Google Ads

YouTube Ads Benchmarks (2023)

10 · by Dennis Moons · Updated on 18 November 2022

People spend a ton of time on YouTube, which means more advertisers are attracted to the platform.

So if you’re spending money on YouTube Ads campaigns, or planning on doing so, it’s important to know how you’re doing.

The first measure of success is to compare the results of on YouTube campaign to another. But besides your own data, it’s often helpful to compare your metrics to benchmarks of other advertisers.

That can help you to identify areas where you might be underperforming.

So in this article, I’ve compiled all the YouTube Ads benchmarks I could find!


YouTube Ads CPV (Cost Per View)

The average YouTube Ads CPV is $0.026

Source: Strike Social benchmark report 2018

The cost per view is calculated by dividing the overall cost by the number of views.

While that might sounds straightforward, I want to pay a little attention to the definition of a view:

On YouTube a view is counted when someone watches 30 seconds of your video ad ( or the duration if it’s shorter than 30 seconds) or interacts with the ad, whichever comes first.

And better: if there is no view, you don’t pay. So if someone watches the first 5 seconds of your ad but then skips, you don’t pay.

Why is this metric important?

The average cost per view is a lagging metric of the performance of your ads.

If your CPV is higher compared to the benchmark, it’s time to dig a little deeper and look at your creative, targeting, or both!

Cost per view by age group

Here is a breakdown of the YouTube Ads cost per view by age group:

Age Cost per view
18-24 $0.025
25-34 $0.029
35-44 $0.028
45-54 $0.029
55-64 $0.025
65+ $0.024
Unknown $0.020

Source: Strike Social benchmark report 2018

Cost per view by gender

Here is a breakdown of the YouTube Ads cost per view by gender:

Gender Cost per view
Female $0.028
Male $0.026
Unknown $0.023

Source: Strike Social benchmark report 2018

Cost per view by month

Here is a breakdown of the YouTube Ads cost per view by month:

Month Cost per view
January $0.026
February $0.030
March $0.030
April $0.022
May $0.025
June $0.028
July $0.024
August $0.022
September $0.026
October $0.028
November $0.033
December $0.045

Source: Strike Social benchmark report 2018

It goes up and down during the year, but the most interesting part of this table is the benchmark for December.

It’s peak shopping season, which attracts more advertisers to the platform, which drives up CPV.

Cost per view  by device

Here is a breakdown of the YouTube Ads cost per view by device:

Device Cost per view
Desktop $0.028
Phone $0.026
Tablet $0.025

Source: Strike Social benchmark report 2018

Cost per view by Industry

Here is a breakdown of the YouTube Ads cost per view by device:

Industry Cost per view
Education $0.037
Fashion $0.046
Telecommunications $0.048
Baby & Child Care (CPG) $0.035
Healthcare & insurance $0.071
Toys $0.038
Household appliances $0.047
Entertainment $0.035
Restaurants $0.037
Government & advocacy $0.040
Health & beauty $0.034
Travel $0.047
B2B $0.037
Sports $0.034
Business & Finance $0.048
Science & technology $0.038
Automotive $0.058
Adult beverage $0.06
Food (CPG) $0.043
Electronics $0.042
Art $0.057
Home & Garden (CPG) $0.088
Gambling $0.062
Gaming $0.046
Retail $0.045

Source: Strike Social 2017 benchmark report

The cost per view follows a similar trend to the CPC in Google Ads. If there is lots of money to be made, CPVs are higher.

YouTube Ads CPM

The average YouTube Ads CPM is $3.53.

Source: AdStage Q1 2020 benchmark report.

CPM is short of cost per mille, or 1000 impressions.

youtube-ads-average-cpm-benchmark-2021

During the last couple of years, CPMs have gone up and down. But in Q1 of 2020, there was a big drop.

This is the COVID 19 effect. Lots of brands were unsure how the virus was going to play out, and many stopped spending all together.

As a result, buying ads became a lot cheaper.

Going Deeper on Google Ads

While this guide is a big one, it barely scratches the surface of what it takes to win with Google Ads campaigns.

That’s exactly why I combined two of our courses, Search Ads Success and Google Shopping Success into a Google Ads Success bundle.

It covers everything I’ve learned from running these campaigns for the past 12 years, and much more.

If you want to learn more, I’d love for you to check it out!

On with the article 👇

YouTube Ads View rate

The average YouTube Ads view rate is 31.9%.

Source: Strike Social benchmark report 2018

This number is calculated by dividing the number of views by the total impressions.

Why is it important?

The average view rate tells you how relevant an ad is to a specific audience. I look at it as the quality score for YouTube Ads.

Your goal is not 100%, but to spot ads/ad groups where the view rate is far below the average.

View Rate By Age Group

Here is a breakdown of the YouTube Ads view rate by age group:

Age View rate
18-24 31.5%
25-34 29.6%
35-44 31.4%
45-54 32.3%
55-64 34.7%
65+ 31.3%
Unknown 37.4%

Source: Strike Social benchmark report 2018

View Rate by Gender

Here is a breakdown of the YouTube Ads view rate by gender:

Gender View rate
Female 28.1%
Male 34.4%
Unknown 37.7%

Source: Strike Social benchmark report 2018

View Rate by Month

Here is a breakdown of the YouTube Ads view rate by month:

Month View rate
January 34.2%
February 29.2%
March 30.1%
April 38.5%
May 37.5%
June 36.4%
July 26.6%
August 31.6%
September 37.3%
October 25.1%
November 18%
December 10%

Source: Strike Social benchmark report 2018

View Rate by Device

Here is a breakdown of the YouTube Ads view rate by device:

Device View rate
Desktop 35.4%
Phone 33.2%
Tablet 26.2%

Source: Strike Social benchmark report 2018

View Rate by Industry

Here is a breakdown of the YouTube Ads view rate by industry:

Industry View rate
Education 35.4%
Fashion 32%
Telecommunications 31.9%
Baby & Child Care (CPG) 31.2%
Healthcare & insurance 31.2%
Toys 31%
Household appliances 30.7%
Entertainment 30.2%
Restaurants 29.7%
Government & advocacy 29.6%
Health & beauty 29.6%
Travel 29.6%
B2B 35.4%
Sports 35.4%
Business & Finance 35.4%
Science & technology 35.4%
Automotive 35.4%
Adult beverage 35.4%
Food (CPG) 35.4%
Electronics 35.4%
Art 35.4%
Home & Garden (CPG) 35.4%
Gambling 24.4%
Gaming 24%
Retail 15.7%

Source: Strike Social 2017 benchmark report

YouTube Ads CPC 

The average YouTube Ads CPC is $0.49.

Source: AdStage Q1 2020 benchmark report.

CPC is short for cost per click.

youtube-ads-average-cpc-benchmark-2021

Similar to the sharp decline in CPV due to COVID 19, the CPC also plummeted during Q1 of 2020.

YouTube Ads CTR

The average YouTube Ads CTR is 0.65%.

Source: AdStage Q1 2020 benchmark report.

CTR is short for click through rate. It’s calculated by dividing the number of clicks on your ads by all the views.

youtube-ads-average-ctr-benchmark-2021

With many advertiser pulling spend from YouTube during Q1 of 2020, the ads that were there got a lot more attention, with CTR almost doubling!

CTR by Industry

Here is a breakdown of the YouTube Ads CPC rate by industry:

Industry CTR
Education 0.56%
Fashion 0.4%
Telecommunications 0.33%
Baby & Child Care (CPG) 0.07%
Healthcare & insurance 0.45%
Toys 1%
Household appliances 0.045%
Entertainment 0.43%
Restaurants 0.04%
Government & advocacy 0.07%
Health & beauty 0.44%
Travel 0.78%
B2B 0.28%
Sports 0.31%
Business & Finance 0.38%
Science & technology 0.31%
Automotive 0.65%
Adult beverage 0.28%
Food (CPG) 0.31%
Electronics 0.38%
Art 0.36%
Home & Garden (CPG) 0.31%
Gambling 0.023%
Gaming 0.9%
Retail 0.84%

Source: Strike Social 2017 benchmark report

How To Use These YouTube Ads Benchmarks

The goal of providing these benchmarks is to provide some perspective to what’s going on in your account.

Do you absolutely need to be at or higher than all of the averages presented here?

No.  But if you’re too far off, you’re likely underperforming compared to other advertisers. That can mean paying 2-5x as much for a single view or click compared to the best advertisers.

You don’t become the best one overnight, but by noticing  which of your ads or ad groups under or outperform your baseline or the benchmark, you can guide your optimization efforts!

Other benchmarks

Besides YouTube Ads, we also collect benchmarks on other types of advertising:

Found something helpful for your campaigns? Let us know in the comments.

Dennis Moons

Dennis Moons is the founder and lead instructor at Store Growers.

He's a Google Ads expert with over 12 years of experience in running Google Ads campaigns.

During this time he has managed more than $5 million in ad spend and worked with clients ranging from small businesses to global brands. His goal is to provide advice that allows you to compete effectively in Google Ads.

Follow him on Twitter or LinkedIn.

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10 responses on "YouTube Ads Benchmarks (2023)"

  1. Stefan Weith says:

    Great compilation of stats. I was looking for something likes this to compare my YouTube ads with. Excellent work.

    1. Dennis says:

      Happy to hear these were useful Stefan!

  2. Jaron Thompson says:

    It says Updated 2021 but then the source links all link back to 2018 stats page?

    Is this right?

    1. Dennis says:

      Hi Jaron,
      Correct, I’ve tried to find the most up to date stats. For some metrics, those are 2018 numbers.

      But I regularly update this post, so if there is new research coming out, I’ll include it here!

  3. Bernhard says:

    Hey, these are interesting.

    But totally outdated.

    It is kind of misleading, that this report claims to be relevant for 2021.

    But all the graphs and numbers stop with Q1 of 2020! – that was over a year ago!

    Do you guys also have relevant, up to date numbers?

    1. Dennis says:

      Hi Bernhard,
      Totally get where you’re coming from. We mostly use data provided by other sources to put these benchmarks together. And often those reports have a bit of lag in them. (It often takes a few quarters to be released).
      But we’re always looking for more accurate data, so in the future, we’ll definitely include the most up to date stats here!

  4. Mika Lind says:

    Cost per Mille, not mile. Mille means thousand.

    1. Dennis Moons says:

      Thanks for spotting the typo Mika.

  5. Sachin says:

    Hello Dennis. You have really provided useful date in one page. However, I think CTR is calculated by number of clicks/ impressions not the views

    1. Dennis Moons says:

      That’s correct Sachin!

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