That’s assuming a click happened. Premium pubs prefer guaranteed fixed CPMs no matter the amount of real clicks. I’ve worked for a few years at one of the major native ad companies, I’m very familiar with how the sausage is made.

In both scenarios publishers look good:

1. CPC: google has strong incentive to generate clicks, because that's where they get revenue: advertisers are charged per click.

2. CPM: publishers get their guaranteed CPM if that's their choice.