Raising the Bar on Viewability

Unfortunately some have misinterpreted our announcement as a softening of our video standardsamp160 We are compelled to correct this viewGiven GroupM39s position as the world39s largest media investment group we have heard concerns from various industry players questioning whether GroupM is effectively making it easier for even more investment to shift to the dominant digital playersamp160 The answer is quotnoquotamp160 However we must continue to track and analyze all metrics to understand the performance of new ad formats on these platformsThe feed environment on platforms like Facebook Twitter Snapchat Instagram and Pinterest enables users to scroll quickly through content and advertising alike so quickly in fact it is possible that neither the content nor the advertising may be seenamp160It39s a factamp160 The thumb is quicker than the mouse in scrolling through a newsfeed and the industry must recognize itamp160So for display ads we now require an ad be 100 percent in view for one second to count as a viewable impressionamp160 This standard gives a fair opportunity for the ad to be seen and for the brand to have an impact on the consumeramp160The explosion of native outstream and infeed socialnative video formats as well as the innovation of advertisers and their creative agencies in designing ads that are shorter and often impactful without sound demands entirely new metrics for these formatsamp160 For native and outstream video ads we now require the ad to be 100 percent in view and play to at least 50 percent completion with or without the sound autoplayed or userinitiatedFor infeed video ads we currently require the ad be 100 percent in view with or without sound autoplayed or userinitiatedamp160 As for the duration we will determine that requirement after study and continued benchmarking with clients media partners and tech vendorsamp160 We expect to complete this analysis in a few monthsNeither of these socialnative video metrics is intended to suggest comparability of these newer video ad formats to premium video amp8211 or that the social video ads be considered quotlike TVquotamp160 In fact the value of video ads experienced without sound and without the user39s initiation is valued at a discount relative to premium videoamp160 Further it39s important to know that our preroll and midroll video requirements remain unchanged 100 percent in view 50 complete and played at the user39s initiation and with the sound onamp160When we introduced our preroll and midroll metric in 2014 our goal was to provide a basis for comparing premium digital video to TV advertising and this is needed today as much as it was then perhaps more so as partners like Facebook introduce services such as Watchamp160 In 2014 most digital video ads were being consumed on YouTube or in other nonfeed environments and many advertisers were deploying their TV spots to those environmentsamp160 So much has changed since then and therefore it39s essential to have new metrics and in many cases new creative for new social video formatsSo you can see amp8230 our original standards remain unchanged with the exception that we39ve strengthened the standard for display ads by adding the onesecond duration requirementamp160 The belief that an ad must be 100 percent in view remains foundational to our standards and this remains the highest possible and marketleading standard for viewabilityWhen we first launched our standards many considered this seemingly tough stance controversialamp160 After all it was quite a step up from the MRC baseline standard which only requires that 50 percent of an ad be in view to be considered quotviewablequotamp160 It was also a huge progression from the early days in digital advertising when publishers were paid based on an ad quotcallquot regardless of whether the ad ever displayed on screen in front of the consumerThe US market has seen the most pointed focus on viewability by GroupM and our partners and the fruits of our labor our attention and even the debates we39ve had have yielded a marketplace that is undeniably better than when we startedIn fact the entire US marketplace has realized a lift in viewabilityamp160 When we first started measuring against GroupM39s 100 percent viewability standard in 2014 only 18 percent of video impressions met our thresholdamp160 By the middle of 2016 55 percent of impressions met our standard excluding social videoamp160 This is huge especially when you consider that higher viewability is linked with delivery of stronger brand metrics and even higher salesIn Australia new research conducted by Mindshare Kantar Millward Brown and MOAT across a Jaguar FPace SUV campaign showed that when the target audience viewed just 50 percent of the Jaguar ad on screen for one second aided brand awareness increased by 51 percent However when audiences saw the ads 100 percent in view for one second a 103 percent increase in incremental brand awareness was realizedamp160 In other words doubling viewability to 100 percent in this case doubled the incremental brand awarenessAs the industry39s largest buyer of digital advertising we feel a responsibility to do our part to drive the marketplace toward greater integrity Viewability plays an essential partamp160 Not only does higher viewability drive stronger brand metrics and other desirable marketing outcomes but we39ve also found that publishers delivering higher levels of viewability typically do so in a way that is contextually safer for brandsamp160It has always been our position that an ad that cannot be seen has no value and that our clients should not pay for anything that delivers no value This belief continues to underpin our thinking about measurement standards in digital as we evolve them for the futureamp160Click the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writersamp160

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Raising the Bar on Viewability

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Susan Schiekofer

Jon Miller | Cofounder Marketo, Engagio | The Gumball Machine is Broken - Rethinking B2B Marketing - By Mike Linton

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Jon Miller | Cofounder Marketo, Engagio | The Gumball Machine is Broken - Rethinking B2B Marketing - By Mike Linton

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