YouTube typically charges advertisers $10,000 for every 100,000 views received on a video post according to a study from online marketing firm Penna Powers, while the average YouTuber can expect to earn around $18 per 1,000 views generated.
Once the Google AdSense platform is linked to their channel, YouTubers will claim a 68% cut of ad revenue, with while the site itself will charge advertisers when a viewer watches 30 seconds or more of an ad, charging around $0.18 per view on average.
However, Penna Powers notes that advertisers take a risk buying inventory on the platform, with it being hard to predict how organic video will perform, and just 15% of viewers likely to be considered a paid view with many choosing to skip the ad.
“If you have 1,000 views to your video and 15% actually watch the ad, then you would have 150 paid views,” reads the article; “At $.18 per view, this would equate to $27 total charged to the advertiser. As the content creator you get 68% of that, so you would average around $18 per 1,000 views.”
Both the publisher and advertiser also compete against the widespread use of ad blockers, with blocked sessions uncounted when it comes to tallying up earnings.
In 2014, a creator unboxing videos (where recently-purchased products are unwrapped and reviewed) specialising in Disney products pulled in $4.9 million, while controversial vlogger PewDiePie made $4 million from his channel in 2014.
To summarise, Penna Powers suggests that while YouTube can provide advertisers with potentially mammoth reach to a targeted demographic often among those who don’t generally consume mass media, the cost of advertising here comes at a premium.
“If you opted to just run an ad on their channel, you would pay $27 per 1,000 views (but only really get 150 completed views). To get 1,000 completed views it would cost $405.”