Understanding CPM, and why your earnings change day to day

CPM means cost per mille, which is simply the amount paid per thousand views. If a rate is listed as two, then a thousand completed visits earns two units of currency. Your own numbers are the rate multiplied by views, divided by a thousand.

The part that surprises people is that the rate is not fixed. Advertisers pay very different amounts depending on where a visitor is, because purchasing power and competition for ad space differ enormously between countries. Traffic from one country can be worth several times the same number of visits from another.

This is why your daily earnings can move even when your visit count is flat. The mix changed, not the volume.

It also means the useful question is not how do I get more clicks, but where are my clicks coming from. A smaller audience in a high-rate country can quietly outperform a much larger one elsewhere.