29/03/2017
With adblocking dominating the digital sphere for much of the last 2 years, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find available advertising space online that allows for proper viewability of adverts. It shouldn’t take a scene to be seen.
It’s an online advertising metric that tracks the impressions which are actually seen by users. For example, if an ad is loaded at the bottom of a webpage, but a user doesn’t scroll down far enough to see it, that impression isn’t deemed viewable.
Viewability is designed to ensure advertisers only pay for impressions that are actually seen by users.
(As defined by the Media Rating Council) Viewable impressions = when a display ad has at least 50% of its pixels in view on the screen for a minimum of one second.
Ad viewability matters when it comes to generating sales for your business. In a study of Kellogg’s video ads, adverts that had 50% of pixels in view for at least two seconds saw a lift in sales that equated to twice as much as those that didn’t; metrics that simply can’t be ignored!
The sales lift keeps rising up to 16 seconds, then decreases.
Like anything, and especially with anything digital, there’s numerous factors that affect your viewability score. And surprisingly, it’s not all about being anywhere above the page fold (though that does factor).
Being located above the page fold doesn’t guarantee your advert to be viewable. Not all above-the-fold impressions are viewable, while many below-the-fold impressions are.
That being said, page position does matter… the position with the most viewability is just above the fold. Whereas most people believe it’s best to place an ad at the top of the page; however, this is where the navigation is usually set, which will always monopolise attention from users.
The size and shape of your advert will also affect your viewability impressions. For instance, the most viewable ad sizes are long, vertical units. This won’t come as a surprise, since these adverts stay on our screens longer by moving down the page with the user.
Viewability also varies across industries. Likewise, depending on how likely content is to hold a user’s attention factors into viewability also.
So, you can see, there are many factors that need to be taken into account when it comes to on-page advertising.
Did this blog leave you behind? Fear not, we call ourselves digital media specialists for a reason; and we’ll be more than happy to give you a helping hand. Give us a call on 01702 619 139 to arrange a meeting.
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