Ninety-six percent of 18- to 24-year-old American internet users use YouTube. That's pretty much everyone! So let's see how marketers are taking advantage of the platform. Here's a peek at what we found when we analyzed over 155 million ad impressions and 580,000 clicks for ads on the platform. Be sure to read the Q3 2019 PPC Benchmark Report for additional ad performance trends. Check out our Benchmark Report page for the latest reports by quarter.

YouTube CPC, CPM, & CTR for Q3 2018 at-a-glance

In Q3 2019, we analyzed over 155 million ad impressions and 580,000 clicks for ads on YouTube.

• Median CPC was $2.09
• Median CPM was $7.45
• Median CTR was 0.36%

YouTube CPM drops slightly

Median CPM decreased to $7.45, and is 36% lower compared to the same time last year.

Key Takeaways

• CPM decreased by 7% since Q2 2019
• CPM decreased by 36% year over year since Q3 2018
  
  

YouTube CTR up 12% Y/Y

Median CTR for ads on YouTube decreased .02% in the third quarter, but is still higher year over year, coming in at 0.36%.

Key Takeaways

• CTR decreased by 5.3% since Q2 2019
• CTR increased by 12.5% year over year since Q3 2018

YouTube Ad Trends Q3 2019

Masthead Ads available for all: Previously, the only way to buy YouTube masthead ads was to do a full day takeover. That meant everyone who visits YouTube on a particular day would see the ad. You can still do that, but the cost is enormous, and there are no targeting options. Now advertisers can buy the YouTube Masthead on a cost-per-thousand impressions (CPM) basis and use advanced audience solutions to customize who sees it. Curious as to how your brand might use the new unit? Preview what a masthead ad would look like with one of your videos by using this tool from Google.

Ability to upload multiple videos per campaign: YouTube is making it easier for marketers to run video ad campaigns. The platform’s new Video Reach campaigns let advertisers upload multiple videos for a single campaign. The capabilities include three different asset types — six-second bumper ads, skippable in-stream ads, and non-skippable in-stream ads. The units are available on a CPM-basis and currently run on YouTube’s desktop and mobile platforms.

Download the entire report for all the stats on CPM, CPC, and CTR benchmarks for Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google Ads, Google Display Network, Twitter, and Microsoft Advertising Ads.