The rising cost of attention
- JJY
- Mar 3
- 2 min read
You’re running the same ads, targeting the same audience, with the same budget—yet your CPMs have doubled over the past year. What’s going on?"
Facebook, Google and TikTok aren’t just making ads more expensive—they’re making advertisers compete harder than ever for the same audiences
The Truth:
Why CPMs Keep Increasing
🔸 Supply & Demand is Broken
More advertisers are competing for limited ad inventory—driving up costs.
Less user attention (thanks to ad fatigue) means platforms need to show more ads to fewer people.
🔸 Privacy Changes (iOS 14 & Beyond)
Advertisers lost tracking & retargeting power, making ads less efficient.
More brands are spending aggressively to compensate for the lack of direct tracking.
🔸 AI & Auto-Bidding: The Hidden Ad Tax
Facebook & Google prioritize AI bidding strategies—making businesses overpay.
CPMs are inflated because platforms push automated spending to maximize their own profits.
🔸 Declining Organic Reach = More Ad Dependence
Platforms kill organic reach so businesses are forced to run ads to get any visibility.
The Wrong Way to Respond to Rising CPMs
❌ Increasing Your Budget – Just feeds the problem.
❌ Narrowing Your Targeting – Leads to higher frequency & ad fatigue.
❌ Constantly Tweaking Ad Creatives – A bandaid solution that doesn’t address the core issue.
The Right Way to Fight Back Against Rising CPMs
✅ Diversify Your Traffic Sources – Organic content + owned audiences (email, communities) protect you.
✅ Leverage “Dark Social” – Groups, niche forums, and private channels drive free, high-quality traffic.
✅ Improve Your Offer, Not Just Your Ad – A stronger hook and positioning beat ad optimization every time
✅ Focus on Retention & LTV – Rising CPMs matter less when you’re maximizing repeat customers.
The Bigger Picture: You Can’t Outsmart a Rigged System
Platforms are making ads more expensive on purpose.
If you’re more than 60% dependent on paid ads, your business is highly vulnerable to sudden algorithm shifts , cost spikes.
The most profitable brands aren’t fighting for lower CPMs—they’re building audiences that don’t need constant ad spend to grow.
Want to learn how ?
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