Video remains one of the most competitive areas of digital advertising, but not every audience costs the same to reach. AdClarity by BIScience data from Q4 2025 shows clear differences in US video ad CPMs across major industries.
Video ad CPM, or cost per thousand video ad impressions, is more than a pricing metric. It reflects advertiser demand, content context, and the value of reaching a specific audience. When CPMs rise in a vertical, it often signals stronger competition for premium attention.
News and Media Leads the Pack
Among different industries, News and Media carried the highest video ad CPM in Q4 2025 at $7.93. Food and Drink followed at $7.54, while Health reached $7.49. Automotive, Travel and Tourism, Ecommerce and Shopping, and Finance all clustered closely between $7.22 and $7.25.
The range is not extreme, but the pattern shows that video pricing remains competitive across categories, while trusted and high-attention environments can still command a premium. For advertisers, that means video planning cannot rely only on average market assumptions. Category context matters.
Why Context Changes the Cost of Video
News and Media environments often carry a specific kind of value. They attract audiences who are actively paying attention, seeking information, and engaging with content that feels timely and credible. For many advertisers, that combination can justify higher video rates.
This does not mean every brand should simply chase the highest CPM environment. Higher cost only makes sense when it supports the campaign objective. A brand focused on credibility, reputation, or high-consideration messaging may see value in premium news and media placements. A brand focused on broad reach or efficient conversions may need a different balance across categories and channels.
The Bigger Lesson for Video Strategy
Video CPM benchmarks are most useful when they support planning conversations, not when they are treated as fixed rules. They help teams set expectations before negotiations, compare whether a category is relatively expensive or efficient, and understand where competitive pressure may be building.
Video advertising is becoming more context sensitive. The value of a placement depends on where the ad appears, who it reaches, what mindset the audience is in, and how that exposure connects to the broader campaign.
AdClarity helps teams evaluate those dynamics with competitive ad intelligence across channels, industries, and markets. When marketers can benchmark CPM, CTR, spend, channel mix, and creative activity together, they move beyond isolated pricing data and start seeing the full competitive picture.
