What counts as a video view
Sourced exclusively from platform help documentation. This table is why cross-platform CPV comparisons need a footnote or a lawyer.
Why this breaks naive comparison
A YouTube view carries fifteen times the minimum watch commitment of a TikTok 2-second event. Divide identical spends by those two counts and the "cheaper" platform is largely an artifact of the smaller denominator unit. Every solver on this site footnotes its platform's definition at the input, and the YouTube vs TikTok compare shows the distortion at full size.
MRC-aligned vs platform-invented
The 2-seconds-at-50%-in-view shape used by X X Business, ads pricing help, 2026 and LinkedIn LinkedIn Marketing Solutions Help, 2026tracks the MRC video-viewability convention. YouTube's 30-second rule Google Ads Help, video ad views, 2026and Meta's 15-second ThruPlay Meta Business Help Center, ThruPlay, 2026 are stricter, platform-defined commercial units. Stricter is better for the buyer: you pay for more watching per unit.
Working rule
Quote the definition alongside every CPV in every deck. Normalize to completed views with the CPCV calculator when platforms must share a slide. The formula itself: how to calculate CPV.