Display marketing has never been as popular as it is today. It plays a critical role in most businesses marketing plans as tactics, such as social media strategies and retargeting, provide firms with cost-effective and innovative ways to reach their target audiences. However, despite the immense progress the industry is making, there are still many issues in online advertising because of viewability problems.
Advertisers and markets spend a significant amount of money to convey their marketing messages to their target audiences. However, viewability issues often dampen their efforts and negatively affect the (return on investment) ROI of ads.
Due to viewability problems, advertisers are unsure whether their ads are being delivered to the right audiences at the right time. Viewability is concerned with whether a display ad is seen by the intended audience or by fraudulent ad impressions generated by bots. It also refers to whether someone for a specific period saw the ad or if the ad’s position on the page was blocked.
These issues have negatively affected the confidence people have in online ads simply because it’s challenging to differentiate between fraudulent and genuine clicks. Additionally, there’s an increasing doubt whether ads are actually seen by audiences as users reportedly see only half of the ads.
How to measure viewability
The key to solving this issue is for marketers and advertisers to measure viewability according to different metrics. One measure could be engagements which could be measured when the mouse hovers or clicks on the ads. This action shows that a user would have at least acknowledged the ads. However, the problem with this approach is that it may not accurately indicate campaign results or performance since metrics should reflect a campaign’s objectives.
There is debate on whether there need to be varying viewability metrics across different platforms. However, all differences often go down to two main factors; it takes 0.25 seconds for a human mind to register an image into memory. Secondly, any differences in platforms do not justify the significant amount of resources that are spent debating any differences.
Hence, while there are viable reasons for setting a standard across the industry, the immediate concern should involve delivering more effective advertising.
The future of ad viewability
To determine the way forward to measure an ad’s viewability, it’s also essential to understand the different factors that affect it. For instance, an ad’s position on the page plays a massive role in how viewable it’s going to be. An ad’s position that’s right above the fold is the most powerful position as compared to the one that’s at the top of the page.
Additionally, vertical ad sizes are the most effective since they stay on the screen for a longer time as the user navigates around the page.
Moreover, even though above the fold positions are considered good, the place is not always the best indicator of viewability since many below the fold impressions are actually viewable.
Lastly, viewability differs according to industries. Content that is more likely to draw and hold a user’s attention is more likely to be successful. For instance, ads for games and arts and entertainment industries tend to do better than telecom and hobbies industries.
Conclusion
Viewability is something advertisers need to take into account to determine the viability of their ads. While many problems do plague the industry, all hope is not lost. By keeping into account the different factors that affect it and using relevant metrics to measure the success rates of different ads, advertisers can figure out the best way forward and overcome the issues that may hinder ad results.
