Imagine spending thousands on digital ads, only to discover that a significant portion never gets seen by your audience. This isn’t just wasted budget—it’s missed opportunities for engagement, conversions, and brand awareness. For advertisers and CMOs, this scenario underscores the importance of understanding and optimizing ad viewability.
As digital ad budgets grow, the pressure to ensure ads are actually being seen is at an all-time high. The focus has shifted from just placing ads online to making sure they appear in front of the right eyes at the right time. But what’s the point of a perfect creative or targeting strategy if your ads aren’t even viewable?
In the fast-evolving world of digital marketing, ad viewability has become one of the most critical metrics advertisers must master to stay competitive. Ad viewability is a term used to describe whether or not an online advertisement is actually seen by users.
Ad Viewability Measurement: What makes an ad “viewable”?
When a webpage loads, ads are often loaded as well, but they may not be visible on the screen if the user doesn’t scroll down far enough to see them. Ad viewability measures the percentage of ad impressions that are actually viewable to the user.
The criteria for what constitutes a “viewable” ad may vary depending on the specific measurement technology or platform being used, but generally, it involves factors such as:
- The percentage of the ad that is visible on the screen: Typically, for an ad to be considered viewable, at least 50% of its pixels must appear on the screen.
- The amount of time the ad is displayed: According to standards set by the Media Rating Council (MRC), an ad must remain visible for at least one continuous second for display ads and two seconds for video ads.
- Whether the ad is displayed in a viewable location on the page: Ads placed above the fold—the part of the page visible without scrolling—typically have higher viewability rates. However, ads placed below the fold or near the bottom of the page are less likely to be seen, reducing their viewability.
For more specific information regarding display ads, check out our display ads FAQ for a more in depth explanation.
How does Measuring Ad Viewability Benefit my Strategy?
There are several benefits for advertisers and CMOs to measure ad viewability, including:
- Ensuring ad effectiveness: By measuring ad viewability, advertisers can ensure that their ads are actually being seen by users, which is critical to achieving their campaign goals. If ads are not viewable, then the advertiser is essentially wasting their advertising budget, as users are not able to engage with the ads.
- Optimizing Performance: Measuring ad viewability can provide valuable insights into how users are engaging with ads, allowing advertisers to optimize their campaigns and improve ad performance. For example, if certain ads are consistently not viewable, advertisers can adjust their ad placement or creative to improve viewability and increase engagement.
- Improving Return On Investment: Measuring ad viewability can help advertisers to identify the most effective placements and formats for their ads, which can ultimately lead to higher engagement rates and better ROI.
- Building Trust: For publishers, measuring ad viewability can help to build trust with advertisers by demonstrating that they are committed to ensuring that their ads are viewable and effective.
- Meeting Industry Standards: Ad viewability is an industry standard metric that is widely used by advertisers, publishers, and ad tech vendors. By measuring ad viewability, companies can ensure that they are meeting industry standards and benchmarks, which can help them to stay competitive and win more business.
How can I increase Ad Viewability? Expert Tips.
In recent years, ad viewability has become a hot topic in the advertising industry. Many advertisers are pushing for higher viewability standards and greater transparency from publishers and ad platforms because there have been several detrimental cases where ads have been displayed in places that made them unviewable, such as at the bottom of a webpage where users are unlikely to scroll. There are a few things you can do as a CMO or Advertiser to improve and ensure ad viewability:
- Lazy Loading: Lazy loading means ads are only loaded when they are about to be seen by the user. This ensures that ad content is visible at the right time, preventing unnecessary ad loading in areas of the page that may not get attention. Lazy loading not only improves ad viewability but also enhances page load speeds, creating a better user experience.
- Placement Matters: As a general tip, ads positioned above the fold (the visible portion of the webpage without scrolling) tend to have a higher chance of being seen by users. However, well-placed ads below the fold CAN also perform well, especially if users scroll through engaging content. Make sure your ad placement aligns with your campaign goals.
- Viewability Tracking Software: Advertisers can use viewability tracking software to monitor how their ads perform in real-time. These tools give insights into ad impressions and whether or not those impressions meet viewability standards. Advertisers can use software like Google Active View, Moat Analytics, Integral Ad Science, DoubleVerify, and many others to identify poorly performing placements and make data-driven adjustments to improve ad visibility.
- Size & Format Matter: Larger and responsive ad formats tend to have higher ad viewability because they take up more screen space and adjust automatically to different devices. Using standard, industry-recommended sizes like 300×250 or 320×50 for mobile can improve ad viewability rates. Tailoring the ad format to fit the user’s device guarantees that more of the ad stays in view for longer.
- Fast Page Load Times: Beware that low-loading websites can drastically hurt ad viewability. Users often abandon pages that take too long to load (it can happen in seconds), reducing the chances of the ads being seen. Optimizing website performance overall and reducing unnecessary scripts can speed up load times and improve overall ad viewability, keeping users engaged long enough to see the ads.
- Don’t Be Banner-Blind: A common issue in ad viewability is poor ad placement, where ads are placed in low-traffic areas of a webpage, such as near the bottom. While these ads technically meet viewability standards, they fail to engage users who rarely scroll that far. Ensuring ad placement in high-visibility spots is critical for improving overall ad viewability.
Ad Viewability and the Future
In our world, things are changing fast, especially when it comes to media and methods of optimizing advertising techniques. In the near future, here’s what you can expect:
Ad viewability will likely become even more integral to digital marketing strategies. As new technologies emerge, such as AI-driven ad targeting and advanced tracking software, advertisers will gain more precise control over where and how their ads appear. This will not only boost viewability but also increase engagement and ROI. Additionally, there will be more of an emphasis on cross-device viewability. With users frequently switching between devices, ensuring consistent ad visibility across mobile, desktop, and tablet environments will be essential to maintaining high ad viewability rates and campaign effectiveness.
In conclusion, ad viewability is a critical metric for advertisers and CMOs. By ensuring that their ads are viewable to users, they can ensure that their ad dollars are being spent effectively and that they are reaching the right audience. As the industry continues to evolve and standards for ad viewability become more stringent, it will become increasingly important for advertisers to stay up to date with the latest trends and best practices in order to remain competitive in the digital marketplace.
Sources referenced:
Marketing Chart | Viewability ads: Super Bowl 2023 Data.