Viewability: What is it and Why Care?
What is Viewability?
Viewability is a metric used in digital advertising to track impressions that are actually seen or viewed by users. It is widely accepted that an ad is considered viewable if 50% of the ad’s pixels are in view for 1 second for display or 2 seconds for video. According to these measures, it is estimated that only about half of ads served are being seen. So you can imagine that improved viewability is top of mind for advertisers.
How is Viewability Measured and Tracked?
This is a good question that doesn’t really have a solid answer. The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has given its definition, but there are vendors using other methods and ways of measuring whether an impression is viewable or not. As the conversation picks up, and advertisers look to use this as a criteria for ad placements and counted impressions, it will be increasingly important for all sides to develop and agree to a consistent, transparent measurement and technology for determining whether an impression has been viewed, or not. But we’re not there yet.
Implication for Publishers
Each ad on your site has its own viewability measurements, and based on these, your site will have an average viewability rating. The lower the rating on either, the more likely you are going to see your CPMs slowly but surely go down. We suggest running viewability stats regularly, and then running placement optimizations to follow-up and make sure your site and its ads spaces are as appetizing as possible to top advertisers.
What’s Next?
Advertisers want to be sure their ads are seen. So viewability is going to become more and more important. The good news is, Adapex can help. Let us help you evaluate your site to make sure your placements are set for the maximum viewability, and help you stay on top of the viewability, and therefore, CPM curve.
