In what it is claiming as a world first, the Interactive Advertising Bureau has set a line in the sand on viewability, but warned the space is too complex to rely on a single measurement.
IAB CEO Vijay Solanki says viewability benchmark is a ‘world first’
The IAB revealed its white paper that sets a range of standards in reaction to growing concern about the way in which the impact of ads is being accounted for.
It said that ads that are non-viewable and non-measurable do not amount to fraud.
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Unveiling the benchmarks, IAB CEO Vijay Solanki said the IAB had tried to simplify things as much as possible for advertisers.
“Viewability is complex and we’ve tried to simplify it where we can,” Solanki said.
“Whilst viewability is important, there are other variables to consider. We look forward to healthy engagement on the white paper as we work with the industry to take this work forward.”
The data was collected by PwC and supported by Comscore, Integral Ad Science (IAS) and Moat, who collaborated to provide industry data. It will be published every six months.
IAB director of research, Gai Le Roy, who returned to the organisation earlier this year with a brief to help define benchmarks, said the numbers would be familiar to people in the industry.
“It’s in line with numbers that have been previously published by individual vendors,” Le Roy said.
“However the collaboration of the three vendors to provide robust, market level data will support ongoing independent and transparent discussions in market.”
The new viewability benchmarks
Benchmarks set for the industry in the white paper require a total of 55.2% viewable on desktop and 54.3% on mobile.
Viewability benchmarks on programmatic ads is significantly lower, with desktop benchmarks set at 44.9% and mobile on 45%.
The IAB warned that viewability was about the opportunity to see an ad and not the engagement or the effectiveness.