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The Latest Uproar Over Video Ad Viewability

Posted by Robert Helstrom on Jun 17, 2015 4:22:48 PM

The industry discussion over video ad viewability has been intensifying for several months now.

The most recent uproar is over whether two of the largest content publishers in the world—YouTube and Facebook—will allow third parties to verify viewability in their proprietary ad networks.

A few big brands are saying they will refuse to advertise with them if they don't.

The Real Issues

Was that a viewable impression I just saw?Despite the chest-pounding, the real issue seems to be that these advertisers want consistency in the way viewability is measured across all publishers.

The current industry benchmark for video ad viewability is "viewable impressions," defined by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and Media Rating Council (MRC), as 50% of the pixels must be in view in the active browser window for at least two continuous seconds.

Beyond agreeing to that standard as to what viewability is, the brands seem to feel that if YouTube and Facebook were to use the same method to measure it as every other publisher, then they'd be satisfied.

Good luck with that. The problem is, YouTube and Facebook aren't like every other publisher. Both companies have invested billions of dollars creating proprietary content ecosystems and have long-standing policies against providing third party access to their most valuable assets—their data.

Despite this protectionism, both companies are working to offer MRC-accredited metrics that should provide brands with a greater satisfaction that the methods they use to measure viewability are copacetic, even if they do skirt the third party issue.

Advertising Age quoted an unnamed Google spokesperson as saying:

"Viewability has long been a concern for our clients, which is why we've supported industry-wide efforts and developed MRC-accredited technology… to measure and buy based on viewability across our products. Our partners have been very receptive to our focus on viewability and we're continuing to work with them to make sure their measurement needs are addressed."

"Brands to Publishers: Let Us Check Your Viewability Rates or We'll Stop Buying Ads," Digital Advertising Age, May 26, 2015

The Baby and the Bathwater 

group-watching-devices-600px-grayscaleAs with all noble stands, this one would come at a cost for the brands who maintain it. Here’s what they'd be giving up:

  • Access to 1 billion unique video viewers each month globally on YouTube, and 1.4 billion unique monthly Facebook users, and
  • Placement in the top two mobile apps in the world, both in terms of installs and usage.

And what about that data YouTube and Facebook control so tightly? Advertisers would also give up:

  • Arguably the richest, most cost-effective audience targeting anywhere.

Add to these compelling benefits top quality inventory like YouTube's TrueView ads, which advertisers only pay for when a viewer watches their full commercials, and we begin to see why this uproar hasn't sparked a stampede just yet.

Perhaps Wendy's VP of digital and social media expresses another perspective best in that same Ad Age article:

"More measurement is good, and third party measurement is best, but beyond that we find the inventory at Google to be valuable, so no concerns here that are making us doubt working with them."

 

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Topics: Video Advertising, Audience Micro-Targeting, Programmatic Media Buying, Mobile Video, Video Ad Viewability

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