Recently, comScore released a whitepaper that measured the impact of viewable impressions on digital advertising. The study, which analyzed 18 different advertising campaigns with 12 major brands, was conducted to determine the percentage of ad impressions that were actually viewed and validated. To determine if an impression is valid, 50% of the ad must be seen for at least one second by part of the intended audience on a page with appropriate content. When comScore analyzed over two billion ad impressions, they found the following:
- 31% of measured impressions were not in view
- 72% of campaigns delivered impressions adjacent to inappropriate content
- Fraudulent and non-human traffic ranged between 4 to 11%
The current system of pricing of ad inventory is largely driven by the position of the ad on the publisher’s page. This pricing model is derived from the belief that the below-the-fold ads are less likely to be viewed and interacted with than above-the-fold ads. However, since the actual content on the page largely impacts the overall performance of an ad, the current pricing structure incorrectly values a large percentage of the available ad inventory.
Now, comScore hopes to use the new metric of validated impressions to measure the correct value of ads regardless of page position. In addition to providing ad agencies and marketers with better data to base decisions on, this new metric will help publishers fairly value their ad inventories.
Magid Abraham, the Co-Founder and CEO of comScore, said the following regarding the relationship between validated impressions and digital scarcity:
“Digital scarcity will help bring the online advertising supply-and-demand equation into balance, allowing ad inventory to be valued appropriately, and helping the publishers who own the inventory to achieve greater rewards.”
When validated impressions are used as a primary metric for an advertising campaign, it can help all involved parties better achieve their goals. Do you plan to use validated impression in the near future?
Sources Include: comScore & Clickz
Image Credit: Shutterstock
