If 2014 is to be defined by one aspect within the digital advertising space then it looks like it will be the viewable impression.
A concept long discussed within the industry, the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) gave their seal of approval to the measurement earlier this year = by giving the go-ahead to companies to use viewability metrics as an ad trading currency for display campaigns.
The IAB has defined an ‘in-view’ ad as one where 50 per cent of the pixels of the ad must be in the viewable portion of an internet browser for a minimum of one second.
This purely concerns desktop ads right now, but tablet, mobile and video metrics will follow, with industry leaders championing the measurement.
IAB’s Director of Data and Industry Programmes, Steve Chester said “[this] heralds a new era in delivery measurement for the advertising industry. Moving to viewable impressions offers the valuable prospect of guaranteed impacts for advertisers.”
So where does that leave publishers?
Questions remain over whether this really is a new era and, if it is, how long it will take to come into being, especially given the dominance of the programmatic market and the low value placed on viewable impressions within this space.
There is clearly a need for transparency and an industry-recognised measurement is a step forward, especially given that as little as one-third of all ads currently could be defined as visible.
However, on the whole advertisers are not having discussions around the topic and are currently placing more focus on rising star formats.
These larger formats such as the 970×250 Billboard for which only 30 per cent of the ad has to be in-view for one second for it to be counted as viewable, offer unrivalled branding opportunities and a high level of engagement.
This brings the question of whether being seen is more important than being clicked?
We’ve seen various revenue models adopted over the years, from CPM and CPE to CPC and CPA, and it looks like CPMv won’t be too far around the corner.
Whatever the format, advertisers are always looking for an ROI and viewaibility is part of that, but it cannot be treated in isolation as a viewed impression isn’t necessarily a successful impression.
