If 50% of a digital ad is within view on your screen for one second, do you see it? How about two seconds?
There was some debate this week about whether the 50% for 1 second standard should count as a billable impression. This standard was set last year by the Media Ratings Council, who worked with agencies, advertisers and publishers in its development. Whatever your opinion, it’s important to know two things 1) there is an industry standard and 2) the impressions you’re getting billed for could be as little as 50% of your ad for 1 second.
read more about that here, published in Ad Week 2/26/15: What Counts as an Online Ad View? A Standard is Nearing, But the Fight’s Not Over
Which made me think about print. The idea of ads getting greater or fewer actual impressions is so baked into our psyche, we don’t think about the why and how of it much any more. Full page ads cost more than 1/3 page ads, and covers (or wraps) cost the most. That’s because we all “know” that even though a pub may have one million circ, not everyone will see the 1/3 page ad. So I wonder if as digital ad spend evolves, we will see a striation of impression costs in the same way. Maybe 100% digital view for 5 secs commands a premium and only 50% visibility for a second should be discounted.
I’m glad to see the discourse over this, and once again, remind myself: this is all new, for everyone, and we are all figuring it out as we go.
FYI: here is a link to the actual “Viewable Ad Impression Measurement Guidelines” published June 30, 2014 by the Media Rating Council
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