X post says $4,000–$5,000 per million

JeffarVlogs posted on X on May 23 that finance and crypto creators in the United States can make $4,000 to $5,000 per 1 million views, contrasting those categories with gaming. The claim fits a broader pattern in creator-industry guides that rank finance among YouTube’s highest-paying niches and gaming among its lower-paying ones. YouTube’s own documentation, however, draws a sharp line between CPM, the advertiser’s cost, and RPM, the creator’s revenue after revenue sharing and other factors. That distinction matters because a figure stated “per million views” often describes RPM, not CPM. ### Where does the $4,000-$5,000 figure come from? JeffarVlogs’ May 23 X post said finance and crypto content in the U.S. can earn up to $4,000-$5,000 per 1 million views, while gaming pays less, according to the social-media post referenced in the briefing. The post did not appear to include a methodology, sample size or platform-level dataset in the materials reviewed. (x.com) vidIQ, a creator software company, said in an April 20 guide that finance, insurance and legal niches carry some of YouTube’s highest CPMs, at $15 to $50, while gaming and entertainment sit at $1 to $8. The same guide said U.S. audiences tend to earn more per view than lower-priced ad markets and that RPM usually runs 30% to 50% below CPM. (x.com) ### Is that number CPM or RPM? YouTube Help says CPM is the cost per 1,000 ad impressions before YouTube’s revenue share, while RPM is total creator revenue per 1,000 views after revenue sharing. YouTube also says RPM includes all views, including those that were not monetized, and can include revenue from ads, YouTube Premium, memberships, Super Chat and Super Stickers. (vidiq.com) A $4,000-$5,000 return on 1 million views converts to roughly $4-$5 per 1,000 views. That math matches the way YouTube defines RPM more closely than the way it defines CPM, because CPM is measured on ad impressions before the platform’s cut rather than creator earnings on total views. That is an inference from YouTube’s definitions and the arithmetic in the post, not a figure YouTube itself published for finance channels. (support.google.com) ### Why do finance channels tend to get higher ad rates? vidIQ said advertisers in finance-related categories pay premium prices because a single customer conversion can be worth thousands of dollars to a lender, broker, insurer or legal service. That pushes finance CPMs above categories such as gaming, where advertisers often face lower customer values and heavier competition for attention. (support.google.com) TubeBuddy said CPM can vary by niche, audience location, season and advertiser demand. That means a U.S.-based personal-finance audience near tax season or year-end budgeting campaigns may attract different bids than a gaming audience with a large international viewer base. ### Why can “per million views” still mislead creators? (vidiq.com) YouTube says RPM does not tell the whole revenue story because it excludes merchandise, many sponsorships and revenue earned indirectly through YouTube. The company also says RPM can fall when unmonetized views rise, even if total revenue does not change. TubeBuddy said creators are paid for ad views, not simply total views, and that YouTube gives creators a 55% share of eligible ad revenue. (tubebuddy.com) In practice, two channels with the same 1 million views can produce very different results depending on watch time, geography, ad fill, video length and how many views were monetized. (support.google.com) ### Where should creators check this for themselves? YouTube directs creators to YouTube Analytics to review revenue metrics, including RPM and CPM. The platform’s help pages say RPM is the metric that shows how much a creator earned per 1,000 views, while CPM shows what advertisers paid before YouTube’s share. YouTube Studio is the next stop for any creator trying to compare finance, crypto or gaming performance against the $4,000-$5,000-per-million claim. (tubebuddy.com) The metric to check is RPM, and the comparison works best over a fixed period with the same audience country and video format. (support.google.com)