<b>Your RPM has a floor your CPM can't see</b>

<b>Your RPM has a floor your CPM can't see</b>
Word is the number that actually moves your monthly payout isn't auction CPM — it's the share of your watch time landing in mid-rolls that advertisers will <i>bid against</i>. A creator tells me two videos with identical CPMs paid 40% apart because one front-loaded its retention and starved the mid-roll slots of audience.
For a channel like yours:
— a 12-minute video that bleeds viewers by minute 4 is donating your inventory back
— pacing a second hook around minute 6 protects ad-eligible watch time, not just retention
— RPM is a packaging-and-pacing metric, not an audience-size one
Confidence: high on the mechanism, medium on the 40% figure.