Charting the Effects of COVID-19 on Facebook CPMs


UPDATED: (4/24/2023)
Our team began tracking Facebook CPMs in March 2020 to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the digital advertising marketplace. Over the past three years, the data has evolved into a powerful tracker and learning tool, enabling our partners and us to make informed decisions in real-time.
First published with CPM data for Facebook only, this tracker was redesigned in March 2023 to cover other social platforms and impression-based ad channels as well:
Link To 2023 Live CPM Dashboard
Initially, advertising prices as measured by the Cost per 1,000 Impressions (CPM) on the Facebook Ads marketplace declined to historic lows as many advertisers pulled back their spending, while usage and time spent on Facebook and Instagram exploded. Prices then rebounded above their early pandemic lows but have entered a new state of volatility as consumer behavior continues to shift.
We created this dashboard to help our clients understand dynamic changes in the marketplace. The data is sourced from a wide sample of projects and it accurately reflects a broad mix of campaign types, ad types, bidding objectives, and industries.
Data is updated daily by 11 AM (EDT).