For mobile advertising, you only get paid when people see the ads you\u2019re running on your site or app. So, ad placement and the viewability rate determine whether an ad gets counted as viewed. Just because an ad loads on your site or app, it doesn\u2019t mean it will be a viewable impression.<\/p>\n
For publishers looking to optimize their mobile revenue, you must create and place ad units properly so that impressions count \u2014 especially for\u00a0in-app advertising<\/a>.<\/p>\n In this article, we\u2019ll outline everything you need to know about mobile app viewability, the challenges, and how to\u00a0maximize your earning potential<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ads are generally sold in two ways:<\/p>\n For CPC ads, you only get paid when someone clicks on them. But many campaigns are based on impressions, so it\u2019s crucial the industry has a standard way to measure what counts as an impression.<\/p>\n Ad measurement requires ads to meet two metrics to count as a viewable impression: viewability and time in view.<\/p>\n Unless these thresholds are met, an ad will not be counted as a viewability impression.<\/p>\n For mobile video ads, a viewable video impression requires the same 50% but for two seconds per the\u00a0Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB)<\/a>\u00a0guidelines. However, many campaigns are bought based on longer durations or completed actions.<\/p>\n These guidelines, issued in accordance with the\u00a0Media Rating Council<\/a>\u00a0(MRC), have been accepted as the industry-standard ad units for mobile advertising viewability.<\/p>\n For publishers, mobile ad viewability measurement is essential to generating revenue. The right placements, ad types, and formats can attract higher bids for publisher inventory.<\/p>\n The majority of traffic today on the internet is mobile. This restricts the number of digital advertising units that can be shown on screen at any one time compared to the desktop, so ad viewability becomes increasingly important.<\/p>\n For advertisers, viewable ad impressions improve the return on ad spend (ROAS). For example, Google research also showed that when ads meet viewability standards, they provide a\u00a0four times higher lift<\/a>\u00a0in conversions than ads that don\u2019t meet the standards. That makes sense if you think about it, since ads that are seen will generate better results than ads that are only partially seen.<\/p>\n Another benefit is that as ad viewability increases, the user experience increases as well. Because ad servers must deliver ads quickly to capture users\u2019 attention, ads today now load faster than before, improving the user experience.<\/p>\n Viewable ad impressions must be measured to verify accuracy. The IAS created a code for publishers to use that can integrate with viewability vendors. It\u2019s called\u00a0Open Measurement SDK<\/a>\u00a0(OM SDK) and is a software development kit that gives third parties the ability to pull viewability data from Ad Tech vendors.<\/p>\n There are other solutions available as well and many DSPs and SSPs provide tools as well. For example, Google has an in-house tool called Active View that captures viewability metrics. For those wanting independent verification, besides the OM SDK option from IAS, there are also other MRC-accredited providers that help track the viewability rate for publishers, including:<\/p>\n Each of these will monitor the click-through rate (CTR), look for potential ad fraud or bot traffic, and measure viewability metrics for programmatic ad units.<\/p>\n Measuring ad viewability helps build trust for advertisers. It assures them that people are seeing the ads they are paying for. It\u2019s not like the old days when ad buyers could open up the newspaper and see their ad. Today, programmatic ad buys happen in real time. Ads can be shown instantly across hundreds or thousands of websites or mobile apps. It\u2019s impossible for advertisers to check on every ad placement as they are occurring, so they must be able to trust that the ads were actually seen.<\/p>\n As such, advertisers should only work with Ad Tech vendors that support the ad viewability standards and prioritize accuracy. They should also hold their vendors accountable for maintaining these standards.<\/p>\n Publishers must also have clear insight into ad viewability to ensure advertisers are getting what they paid for and optimizing their monetization. By adopting\u00a0best practices and continuous testing<\/a>, publishers can provide the environment advertisers need to drive effective advertising campaigns.<\/p>\n The biggest benefit of tracking ad viewability is to see and understand the results of a mobile ad. Viewability metrics are taken into account when placing ads and analyzing campaign results. So, the optimization of ad units for mobile devices plays a big part in monetization for publishers.<\/p>\n If display ads or video advertising is placed with a publisher, but not delivered as a viewable impression, it may not meet advertiser campaign goals. This can impact future ad buys or cause your site to be downgraded for future campaigns.<\/p>\n Publishers need to measure their mobile ad viewability and test different ad units, formats, and placements to optimize performance and revenue. Without measuring, publishers are unable to see the results or how interactive an ad has been with a visitor.<\/p>\n Mobile ads are an incredibly effective tool for marketers. Because of the small screen size on mobile devices, an advertiser generally gets a 100% share of voice \u2014 often the entire screen. Mobile ads also tend to perform better and drive higher time-in-view metrics than desktop ads.<\/p>\n Advertisers need to know which ads are being seen and performing, so they can refine campaigns to get similar positive results in the future and make future buying decisions.<\/p>\n Measurement tools can also help weed out bot traffic. Views need to be from humans to be effective.<\/p>\n Anyone can add ad units to their mobile site, but it doesn\u2019t mean it will be in the right place, target the correct audience, or stop viewing from\u00a0invalid traffic<\/a>\u00a0such as bots. Ad fraud is bad for everyone involved in the advertising industry, but it\u2019s also a significant problem. Advertisers shouldn\u2019t have to spend ad budgets on bot traffic, so sites want to limit exposure.<\/p>\n There are also other challenges for mobile advertisers and publishers.<\/p>\n While faster internet speeds help, ad calls by nature introduce latency into the delivery system. If ads take even a few seconds to load, users may have already scrolled past them, which can result in ads not being counted as viewed. Worse, research shows that 40% of\u00a0users won\u2019t wait more than three seconds<\/a>\u00a0before abandoning a website altogether. According to Crazy Egg, a\u00a0one-second delay in loading times<\/a>\u00a0can result in:<\/p>\n When working with Ad Tech vendors, they must ensure minimal latency in the ad ecosystem for programmatic advertising.<\/p>\n Mobile ads can be hidden behind browsers or blocked by tabs. If ads cover up important content or disrupt viewing, they can also hurt the viewing experience and result in people leaving sites quickly or not returning.<\/p>\n Ad viewability is also highly dependent on your mobile site or app being optimized for mobile. If your site has design problems that prevent it from rendering properly on various mobile devices, loads too slowly, or is generally not mobile-friendly, performance will suffer.<\/p>\n Ads in the wrong place can significantly hurt ad impressions. Ads might not be seen at the top of the screen or count for ad viewability measurement depending on where it\u2019s located. Publishers need a way to test and optimize ad placements to find the\u00a0best placements for ad units<\/a>.<\/p>\n There\u2019s also a big difference in ad placements between desktop and mobile sites. While the top of the page generally gets the highest visibility, mobile users tend to scroll much more quickly than desktop users. So, ads that are at the very top of the page may get low viewability scores. Middle of the page and bottom of the screen banner ads may result in better results.<\/p>\n Users may also have an ad blocker set up that filters out ad impressions for various ad formats. In this scenario, there\u2019s little that an advertiser or publisher can do about the ad block software their site visitors have installed. Luckily, not all internet users have installed ad blockers, so website ads do continue to be an effective source of advertising and income.<\/p>\n A challenge for advertisers on any platform is to capture a viewer\u2019s attention and get them to engage.\u00a0Rich media is different than other ad formats<\/a>\u00a0and it can work exceptionally well to increase interaction.<\/p>\n Mobile marketing relies on data and metrics to track literally everything in the advertising ecosystem.<\/p>\n It\u2019s important for publishers to track the metrics of their ad campaigns to ensure mobile ads and mobile app viewability meet campaign objectives. This also helps keep fraud to a minimum while optimizing monetization for publishers.<\/p>\n Mobile ad viewability is crucial for both advertisers and publishers to maximize results and revenue. If you have questions about how you, as a publisher, can make sure the ads on your site are being displayed properly and that they match your site visitors interests, just\u00a0reach out<\/a>. We\u2019re happy to have a conversation and help make sure your site is earning its true potential from ad monetization.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For mobile advertising, you only get paid when people see the ads you\u2019re running on your site or app. So, ad placement and the viewability rate determine whether an ad gets counted as viewed. Just because an ad loads onRead more…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\nWhat is Mobile Ad Viewability?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Why is Mobile Ad Viewability So Important?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
How Can Mobile Ad Viewability Be Measured?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Benefits of Mobile Ad Viewability\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Challenges for Mobile Advertisers<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Page Load Speeds<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Design Issues<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Ad Unit Placement<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Ad Blockers<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Rich Media<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n