I'm sorta curious. For 2016 (if years apply), what's the average CPM? Online it says $2-3. What if your site has 17 million visitors a year? Do ads give you a higher CPM / bids / whatever?
Our network allows Advertisers to set the maximum price they want to pay for CPM. We are using 2nd bid price. So advertisers never pay more than the 2nd bidder. If one of them bid $3, and the 2nd bid $2.75, publishers will be paid $2.75. This is how our system works, you might wanna check inside http://toutrix.com/adserver/publishers
It's better to speak with the ad network you're using, or thinking of using, to find out an 'average' CPM for sites similar to yours. CPMs can vary greatly depending on the type of site you have, traffic, quality of site, and quality of ad placements/space available. Find out what geos your network performs best with, and try keep your ads down to 3 ads per page. Making sure your ads are properly spaced apart and are in high areas of visibility may cause advertisers to place higher bids for each space. I would estimate an average CPM around $1.00-$2.00, assuming you're primarily seeing US traffic and have well placed ads on your site.