Video viewability - Five things you should know

Barry Blassoples

According to the IAB and Media Rating Council, a video ad is considered viewable when at least 50% of the ad's pixels are visible on the screen for at least two consecutive seconds.

A video ad's viewability rate then, is measured as the percentage of viewable impressions out of the total number of impressions (viewable + non-viewable).

1. The current state of video viewability

Google, DoubleClick Advertising and Youtube research indicates that the average viewability of video ads across the web, and outside of YouTube, on desktop, mobile web and apps combined is 54%. For YouTube, on web and across devices, this number climbs to an impressive 91%.

Interestingly, the research also showed that in cases where the ads were not viewable but audible only, an impact could be found on brand lift. YouTube users who were exposed to ads that were only heard and not seen still had a 33.1% higher ad recall than users who were not exposed to the ad at all.

2. Video ads on mobile and tablet have much higher viewability rates

We all know that the world is shifting to mobile to consume content, what you may not know is that South Africa, along with our fellow BRICS nations, is already well ahead of the mobile adoption curve. This becomes a very important point when thinking about video ads on mobile devices as viewability on mobile and tablet, across the web and excluding YouTube sits at 83% and 81% respectively (Desktop video ad viewability is looking less impressive at 53%). On YouTube, as expected, the viewability rate is even better at 94%

3. Size matters

When examining the most popular video players across the web, it was found that the larger player sizes were more viewable. This stands to reason as the requirement for a video to be considered viewable pertains to the video player's position on the screen when the video ad is served. A bigger video player means more screen real estate which in turn means a greater probability that 50% of the ad's pixels are on screen for at least two consecutive seconds.

Comparing the viewability of the two most popular ad sizes by volume, it was found that the 300x250 video ad delivered a viewability rate of 20%, while the second most popular ad size by volume, 848x474 delivered an 89% viewability rate.

4. Buy prime real estate

As digital marketers we're often reminded to trust the data rather than our instinct, so it's always satisfying when the data supports what we think we already know. The research conducted confirmed that the more prominent the video ad position, the higher the viewability rates. A Top+Center position will deliver the best viewability, with the rate decreasing as you move down ad toward the outside of the page.

5. Why your visibility rates are low

If you find that your video ads just aren't as viewable as you'd like them to be, the most likely reasons for this would be that they were never on screen in the first place, possibly served on a tab open in the background, or that the ad was scrolled off-screen or abandoned in under two seconds. (In case you're wondering, and I know that the digital marketers are, the percentages are 76% of non-viewable ads were never on screen and 24% of non-viewable ads were scrolled off-screen).

You can take a read through the full infographic here: http://storage.googleapis.com/think/docs/are-your-videos-making-an-impression.pdf.