What CM360 is, in one minute
Campaign Manager 360 (CM360) is Google's ad-serving and measurement platform. It serves your creative, counts impressions and clicks, and ties conversions together through Floodlight, giving you one independent record of what ran and what it drove across DV360, SA360, and other buying platforms. It measures and serves media rather than buying it — a distinction that matters, because it's why CM360 is priced on volume rather than spend. For the full rundown, see what CM360 is and does.
How CM360 pricing works
Unlike DV360 and SA360, CM360 isn't priced on media spend at all. It bills on volume: a CPM on the impressions it serves, with additional fees layered on for certain formats and for tracking. That means your CM360 cost tracks how much you serve, not how much you spend on media.
A campaign with heavy impression volume and rich creative can cost more to serve than a higher-budget campaign running simple static ads. So forecasting a CM360 bill is really about forecasting impressions and formats, not dollars.
CM360 cost structure
The CM360 cost structure is built on volume, not media spend. Rather than charging a percentage of what you spend on ads, CM360 charges for what it does: a rate per thousand impressions served, with separate rates layered on for richer formats and for tracking. Your total is the sum of those volume-based charges, plus your partner's markup for reselling and supporting the platform.
Three consequences fall out of that structure. Two campaigns on the same budget can cost very different amounts to serve if one runs heavy video and the other runs simple display. Your cost scales with delivery, so a high-impression brand campaign can cost more to measure than a lower-impression performance campaign on a bigger budget. And because it's volume-based, forecasting your cost means forecasting impressions.
- Base serving (CPM). The core charge for every standard impression served.
- Format premiums. Higher rates for rich media and video, which take more to serve.
- Tracking. Click trackers and tracking-only ads, usually billed separately from served impressions.
- Partner markup. Your reseller's fee on top, for platform access and support.
CM360 placement cost structure
In CM360, a placement is the specific slot where an ad runs, and it's the level at which serving costs actually accrue. Every placement you traffic serves impressions, and each of those impressions is billed at the CPM for its format — so your placement cost structure comes down to how many impressions each placement serves and what type of creative sits in it.
In practice, a display placement serving standard banners bills at the base CPM, while a video or rich-media placement in the same campaign bills at a higher rate for the same number of impressions. Tracking-only placements — used to measure activity you aren't serving creative into — are typically billed on their own basis. Modeling cost at the placement level, format by format, is the accurate way to forecast a campaign's serving bill before it runs.
What you're billed for
- Standard impressions. A base CPM on display impressions served through CM360.
- Rich media and video. Higher rates for advanced and video formats, which carry more serving overhead.
- Click tracking. Tracking clicks without serving impressions is often billed separately.
Rich media and video deserve particular attention, because they're where a CM360 bill climbs fastest — see CM360 rich media and video fees for how those premiums work and how to keep them in check.
Estimated CPM ranges
Independent estimates for the base CM360 CPM, in dollars per thousand impressions. Rich media, video, and click trackers are additional.
| Annual impressions | Estimated CPM | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Under 30M | $0.04–$0.09 | Minimums often apply |
| 30M–60M | $0.035–$0.07 | Mid-volume band |
| 60M+ | $0.03–$0.065 | Volume pricing |
Why CM360 is usually bought alongside DV360 and SA360
CM360 is the measurement backbone under DV360 and SA360. Because Floodlight ties them together, partners commonly quote CM360 as part of a bundle rather than standalone, and a multi-platform deal often carries a discount. The split of work between serving and buying is covered in CM360 vs DV360. If you're evaluating CM360 on its own, model it both ways — alone and bundled — because the bundled economics can change the decision. The DV360 pricing breakdown and the comparison tool show how the combined rate compares.
Common questions
What is the CM360 cost structure?
It's volume-based: a CPM per thousand impressions served, plus premiums for rich media and video, separate charges for tracking, and your partner's markup on top. It scales with what you serve, not what you spend on media.
How are CM360 placements billed?
Each placement serves impressions billed at the CPM for its format. Standard display placements bill at the base rate; video and rich-media placements bill higher for the same volume; tracking-only placements are usually billed separately.
How is CM360 priced?
On a CPM basis: a rate per thousand impressions served, billed by your GMP partner. Rich media, video, and click-only tracking usually carry additional fees on top of the base rate.
Does CM360 cost depend on my media budget?
Not directly. It scales with impression and tracking volume, so a high-impression campaign with rich creative can cost more to serve than a bigger-budget campaign running simple ads.
Can I buy CM360 on its own?
Yes, but it's most often bundled with DV360 and SA360 because Floodlight connects them. Bundled quotes frequently carry a discount, so it's worth comparing standalone against bundled.
What's Floodlight?
Google's conversion-tracking framework inside CM360. It's the connective tissue that ties impressions, clicks, and conversions together across the Google Marketing Platform.