The Benchmark Ledger
Bands verified July 2026; re-verified quarterly.
This page renders the same JSON file every calculator on the site reads its defaults and verdict bands from, so it cannot drift from what the tools do. Rules: no figure renders anywhere without a source, URL, and vintage; auction platforms without price lists get "no sourced band", never an inferred rate; every VintageTag chip site-wide deep-links to its row below.
| Figure | Value | Source | Vintage | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
YouTube skippable in-stream, average CPV Blended average across industries. View = 30 seconds, full length if shorter, or an interaction. | $0.024 | Store Growers, Google Ads Benchmarks | Q1 2026 | 2026-07-31 |
YouTube in-stream CPV, industry spread (CPG low to legal high) $0.018 CPG at the cheap end, $0.058 legal at the expensive end. We carry the sourced endpoints and the blended average, not an invented full vertical table. | $0.018-$0.058 | Store Growers, Google Ads Benchmarks | Q1 2026 | 2026-07-31 |
YouTube Shorts CPV band Feed-native short-form inventory. Cheap started views, not cheap completed views. | $0.0050-$0.015 | Veefly, YouTube Advertising Cost | 2026 | 2026-07-31 |
Connected TV, average CPV TV-screen premium. CTV is usually bought on CPM and traded on CPCV; this is the effective per-view figure. | $0.038 | Veefly, YouTube Advertising Cost | 2026 | 2026-07-31 |
Mobile devices, average CPV Mobile runs below the TV-screen figure. Desktop sits between; only the sourced points are published here. | $0.022 | Veefly, YouTube Advertising Cost | 2026 | 2026-07-31 |
TikTok published minimum budgets $50 per day campaign minimum, $20 per day ad group minimum (lifetime = $20 x scheduled days). TikTok publishes minimums, not per-view rates. | $20-$50 per day | TikTok Ads Manager, Budget help article | 2026 | 2026-07-31 |
Meta suggested starting budget Meta's pricing FAQ suggests starting at $5 a day. No CPV or CPM rates are published; the auction sets price. | $5 per day | Meta, Ads pricing page | 2026 | 2026-07-31 |
Google Ads (YouTube) pricing model Auction-based CPV bidding for in-stream video. No rate card, no published minimum. Google: 'bidding amounts are ultimately up to you.' | qualitative | Google, Ad tools bidding page | 2026 | 2026-07-31 |
YouTube paid view definition 30 seconds watched, the full ad if shorter than 30s, or an interaction, whichever comes first. | qualitative | Google Ads Help, video ad views | 2026 | 2026-07-31 |
TikTok focused-view definitions 2-second and 6-second video view events. A 2s TikTok view and a 30s YouTube view are different products. | qualitative | TikTok Ads Manager, Video Views help | 2026 | 2026-07-31 |
Meta ThruPlay definition ThruPlay bills for videos played to 15 seconds, or to completion for videos shorter than 15 seconds. | qualitative | Meta Business Help Center, ThruPlay | 2026 | 2026-07-31 |
LinkedIn video view definition 2 seconds of continuous playback with the video at least 50% on screen. LinkedIn publishes no rates; auction only. | qualitative | LinkedIn Marketing Solutions Help | 2026 | 2026-07-31 |
Snapchat paid view definition 2-second view standard for video metrics. Snapchat publishes no per-view rates; auction only. | qualitative | Snapchat Business Help Center | 2026 | 2026-07-31 |
X (Twitter) billable video view definition MRC-style 2 seconds with 50% of the player in view for billable ad views. Not the public 'views' counter, which counts far looser impressions. | qualitative | X Business, ads pricing help | 2026 | 2026-07-31 |
CTV pricing direction, trade coverage Trade coverage has CTV pricing firming while open-web online video CPMs deflate. Directional context, not a quotable rate. | qualitative | AdExchanger, CTV Roundup coverage | 2025-2026 | 2026-07-31 |
Platform pricing models on record
The ad platforms themselves, verified against their own pricing pages. Note the pattern: auctions everywhere, rate cards nowhere.
| Platform | Model | Cheapest published figure | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Ads (YouTube CPV) | Auction-based CPV bidding for in-stream/TrueView video; advertiser sets max CPV/budget; no rate card or published minimum | Quote/auction only - no published CPV rate; 'bidding amounts are ultimately up to you' | 2026-07-31 |
| Meta Ads (ThruPlay video views) | Auction; ThruPlay billing for 15s/completed video views; budget set by advertiser; no published rates | Quote/auction only - pricing page publishes no rates; FAQ suggests starting budget of at least USD 5 | 2026-07-31 |
| TikTok Ads Manager | Auction (video view objective priced per CPV/CPM); hard published minimum budgets: $50/day campaign, $20/day ad group (lifetime = $20 x scheduled days) | $20/day minimum ad group budget ($50/day campaign minimum) - auction-priced views, no published per-view rate | 2026-07-31 |
| LinkedIn Ads (video) | Auction; CPV billing available for video view objective; 2s continuous / 50% on-screen view definition; no published rates | Quote/auction only - pricing page describes the auction model, publishes no CPV rates | 2026-07-31 |
| Snapchat Ads | Auction; goal-based bidding including video views; 2-second view standard; no published rates | Quote/auction only - advertising pages publish no per-view rates | 2026-07-31 |
| X Ads (video views) | Auction; video views objective bills on MRC-style 2s/50% billable views, not the public views counter; no published rates | Quote/auction only - ads pricing help states auction-determined cost, no rate card | 2026-07-31 |
Refresh log
- 2026-07-31: ledger established; all rows verified against live sources at research stage. Next scheduled re-verification: October 2026.
The bands live at /benchmarks; the rules about what a view even is live at what counts as a view. Corrections: see about.