Understanding Ad Viewability : What It Is and How to Improve It

Ad viewability in digital advertising is a high-priority subject matter that is used as a key determinant of how effective a display or video advertisement can be. Then why is ad viewability important to advertisers and publishers?

The simple reason is that just because an ad is served does not mean it has been viewed. Consequently, advertisers invest resources in an ad’s high viewability; this is because the performance of their campaigns and their returns (ROI) depend on this aspect. Publishers and advertisers, alike, strive to maximize ad viewability rates so as to improve campaign outcomes. In this article, we shall discuss what ad viewability entails, the importance thereof, as well as practical techniques for its enhancement.

What is ad viewability?

Ad viewability is the measure by which ads are visible to users on a website. An ad is said to be “viewed” when the majority (50%) of its pixels are visible at least one second for display ads or two seconds for video ads, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and Media Rating Council (MRC). Google calls it Active View.

However, all the best ad exchanges do not meet the same standards. For instance, Xandr and OpenX only need 30% of big display ads (242,500 pixels or more) to be present within one second for it to pass as a viewable impression.

What Is the Ideal Ad Viewability Score ?

The leading ad marketplaces, such as Xandr, OpenX, and Rubicon, are in unison in stating that the best ad viewability rate stands at 70% or more. Anything between 50% and 70% is acceptable, while below 50% is regarded as being too low. As the ad viewability score increases, so does the value of the inventory it supports, which results in increased advertiser demand for such inventory and consequently improved campaign performance.

How to Measure Ad Viewability

Ad viewability calculation is a simple process: divide all viewable impressions by total delivered impressions. You will then know what percentage of ads were viewed after that. Metrics can be found on platforms like Google Ad Manager and any other ad exchange platforms. It assists in determining whether the ad placements made were effective or not by advertisers and publishers.

Why Is Ad Viewability Important ?

High advertisement visibility is a necessary element of campaign performance improvement. As per statistics, worldwide desktop ad visibility reached seventy-one point nine percent in the year 2020, while mobile devices had sixty-seven point six percent. Money wasted on non-seen rates results in felonious loss to advertisers since non-seen impressions do not aid in developing a particular brand or conversions. Hence, focus has shifted from ordinary served impressions to metrics such as viewable time and user engagement.

According to research done by Google, viewable display ads on its ad exchange had four times the number of conversions as those that were never viewed before. Hence, ad exposure is a very critical aspect for the success of any ad campaign.

Common Causes of Low Ad Viewability Scores

There are quite a number of factors that may negatively influence the visibility of advertisements :

  • Page Length and Content Quality : In terms of ad viewability, shorter content tends to be more encouraging as users do not have to scroll excessively.
  • Loading Speed for Adverts : When ads take too long to load, it makes some people scroll past them before they even get to spot them.
  • Ad positioning : Such ads as those placed at the bottom are often viewed less due to the fact that they are below the fold.
  • Behavior of Users : An abrupt page exit by a user implies that a few ads might not have been fully loaded which influence their impressions.
  • Internet Speed : This is because bad internet connection results in longer downloading times for the ads hence negatively affecting their impressions.

6 Ways to Improve Ad Viewability

Here are six validated techniques for promoting your website’s ad visibility :

Do Enhance Your Website’s Speed

Website speed affects both ad viewability as well as overall user experience. To improve your website’s speed, you should :

  • Use responsive layouts.
  • Reduce unnecessary redirects.
  • Optimize images to increase server response time.
  • Implement asynchronous ad tags.

Speed Up Ad Loading Times

Even though your website may load fast, slow loading times for displayed ads will affect their visibility negatively. If lazy loading is adopted for ads that form part of an exterior layer, it will lead to their being triggered just before they come into sight. Also decreasing the number of passbacks diminishes switching between servers, thereby increasing ad viewability. Retaining users and ensuring that they see ads more often can be achieved by a quicker ad exchange.

Make the Right Ad Size Selections

Vertical ad sizes, such as 160x600, typically stay in view longer than horizontal ones. Thus, ad placements on sidebars can make an impact on their viewability. Moreover, high-performing mobile ad sizes like 300x250 or 320x100 should be used; they have been shown to perform better with mobile devices.

Utilize Ad Refresh Functionality

Allowing the ads to reload after a specified period of time that someone has seen them will enhance your site’s overall score for ad viewability through refresh rates. Even so, it’s important that we do not rush into this, as declining user involvement and advertisement click-through rates (CTR) could result from such actions. More importantly, for online ad exchange performance to be at its best, a harmony between consumers’ actions and rate within which advertisements refresh should be maintained.

Understand user conduct

By studying which pages capture the most attention from visitors on your site, you will be able to optimize both number and placement for ads thereon. Too many adds can lead to a page being slow, rendering it a poor experience for users while reducing the amount of ads being visible. Experts from advertisement marketplaces might help you find out how many ads count per page should be optimal.

Give First Priority To The Best Ad Placements

Ad placement is one of the most significant determinants of ad visibility. Therefore, the most visible ads are usually placed just below the fold (but not at the top). Video ads that are placed above the fold have typically been known to achieve about 73% visibility rates.

Conclusion

To increase ad visibility from a magazine for advertisement and its publisher, page speed optimization, ad loading time optimization, use of appropriate ad size, and right positioning methods can be used. Greater than before CPM (cost per thousand views), increasing vCPM (viewable cost per thousand views) for ad marketplace as they concentrate more on vCPM measurements. If publishers use asynchronous loading with web page content of advertisements, they will improve the quality of their ad spaces and get maximum benefits from their websites, respectively.

With these recommendations, your advertising rate will go up while doing better user experience is paramount, leading to more successful ad campaigns and bigger cash flow through the best ad exchanges such as Google, Xandr, or OpenX.

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