This document summarizes a presentation on measurability and viewability given by Ian Hewetson. It discusses key metrics around viewability standards, discrepancies between measurement vendors, and how viewability and measurability vary across factors like browser type, publisher, programmatic buys, and domain. Charts show relationships between these factors and viewability/measurability levels. It cautions that viewability alone is an incomplete metric and recommends choosing partners who report on multiple dimensions like fraud. Transparency around domain and measurement is important for accuracy.

1. IAB X-Series:
Measurability & Viewability
Presented by:
Ian Hewetson, VP Client Services
December 4, 2014

2. Quality, Transparency & Measurability
2
“Think about what this means for
us as an industry. When we're
rejecting 75% to 85% of the
impressions available, that's a
problem.”
Julie Fleischer, Kraft Foods

3. 3
The Basics
• IAB standard: 50% of the
pixels of an ad must be in
view for 1 second or
longer
• …although, some advertisers are already demanding
more (on Nov 10, AdAge reported that Unilever and
Group M require 100% in view)

4. 4
Technical Standards
Originally, the viewability standard was meant to be
transactional
As of now there are still big discrepancies between all of
these 16 vendors certified by the MRC.
This means that budget reconciliation between publishers
and advertisers remains a challenge.

5. 5
The two methods of measurement
1) Geometric – the position of the browser window on
the page is compared with the position of the ad. This
method is standardized across multiple vendors.
2) Browser Optimization – based on the processor activity
as an ad comes into view of the browser. This method
has multiple variations between vendors.
For this study, eyereturn used the geometric method.

6. Why look at Measurability + Viewability?
6
Organic
Kale Chips
BBQ
Looking at Viewability alone is like looking at a nutrition label
without taking into account the serving size…
Looks pretty good!

7. Why look at Measurability + Viewability?
7
Organic
Kale Chips
BBQ
….but maybe the results aren’t as good once you dig a little
deeper!

8. • Research Background
• Results
• Observations
• Key Takeaways
8

9. 9
282,987,300 standard display impressions
No mobile, no pre-roll video
Impressions ran between October 1 and 31, 2014
Post click / viewthrough conversions measured where
applicable
Research Background

10. 10
Impressions Analyzed
282,987,300 impressions analyzed from ad serving October 1 to 31, 2014

11. • Research Background
• Results
• Observations
• Key Takeaways
11

12. 12
Introduction to the Graphs
Viewability
Measurability
Viewability vs Measurability

13. 13
Viewability & Measurability by Browser Type
Viewability
Measurability
25 million
50 million
75 million
Impressions

14. 14
Viewability & Measurability by Browser Type
Viewability
Measurability
Chrome
Firefox
IE
Safari

15. 15
Viewability & Measurability by Publisher
Viewability vs Measurability by Publisher
Viewability
Measurability
1 millionimpressions
2 millionimpressions
3 millionimpressions
4 millionimpressions

16. 16
Viewability vs Measurability by Programmatic
Viewability
Measurability
Viewability & Measurability by DSP
5 millionimpressions
10 millionimpressions
15 millionimpressions

17. Viewability & Measurability Publisher vs DSP
17
Publisher
Programmatic
Publisher
Impressions
10 million
20 million
30 million
40 million
50 million
Measurability
Viewability

18. Viewability & Measurability – Top DSPs
18
There are DSPs
that provide
you with better
quality
inventory
30,000,000
35,000,000
40,000,000
45,000,000
50,000,000
Impressions
Viewability
Measurability

19. 19
Viewability & Measurability by “Premium” Domains
Does site
“Quality” =
higher levels of
Measurability?
Viewability
Measurability
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
Impressions

20. 20
Viewability & Measurability by Suspicious Domains
Fraud sites
often optimize
towards
viewability
High
Viewability ≠
High
Measurability
Viewability
Measurability
250,000
Impressions
500,000
750,000
1,000,000

21. 21
CPM effect on Viewability & Measurability
Do higher CPMs
give you more
Measurable
Inventory & Higher
Viewability?
Viewability vs Measurability for higher cost inventory
Viewability
Measurability
CPM Scale

22. • Research Background
• Results
• Observations
• Key Takeaways
22

23. 23
False Economy? The influence of viewability on eCPM
$2.50 $2.96
$6.40
$11.02
Total Inventory Artifical Removed Out of View Removed Unmeasurable Removed
100% 84% 39% 27%
CPM

24. 24
Traditional Conversion Tracking – Total View-throughs
Total Conversions: 1372
How Does Viewability Relate to Conversions?
Total Conversions: 197
Tracking with Certainty – Only Measurable and Viewable

25. 25
Behind the High Viewability Screen
High Viewability doesn’t mean a thing without knowing Measurability
What your average DSP will show you What you should ask your DSP to show you

26. 26
Advertisers and publishers often use different vendors resulting
in discrepancies
As the market consolidates we see verification vendors looking
to become the standard on both the buy and sell side resulting
in some interesting market pressures
In the few deals we’ve seen, publisher CPMs increase if the buy
is negotiated based on viewability.
Whose numbers are right?

27. 27
Publisher Strategies

28. 28
Publisher Policy – A sample excerpt
• Buyer and seller agree to a percentage of traffic that will be
guaranteed viewable based on IAB standards.
• If buyer chooses to use a viewability vendor other than the
one used by publisher, rates must be within 10%, or
publisher viewability numbers will prevail.
• Both sides to provide weekly viewability numbers to the
other party
(paraphrased from Nov 17 admonsters blog post by Joe Luna, Fox News)

29. 29
• If a robot “sees” an ad – it IS considered viewable.
• Viewability is not a valuable metric unless you minimize
fraud before measuring.
• Fraud sites are often engineered to show many ads above
the fold.
Where does fraud fit in?

30. • Research Background
• Results
• Observations
• Key Takeaways
30

31. 31
• The key predictor of measurability & viewability is transparency of domain
• Where publishers are transparently identified, whether the buys are direct,
or programmatic, measurability and viewability are both generally higher.
• Even though this transparent inventory may be more expensive, these buys
may ultimately offer more REAL value, in several ways:
1) Conversion costs become more accurate after removing non-human traffic, and
measurable non-viewable traffic.
2) Transparent (ie friendly iframe) inventory is more easily vetted for non-human
traffic, nested ads
Analysis

32. 32
1) Make sure all the details of any viewability based buy are in a contract;
including which party’s numbers will prevail.
2) Choose a partner who can report on multiple dimensions of viewability,
including fraudulent sites, domain spoofing and non-human traffic.
3) Take a deeper look into viewability numbers. Are those viewable
percentages coming from only measurable inventory?
4) Is it time to increase the CPM you are willing to pay to receive quality
measurable and viewable inventory?
Viewability Best Practices

33. 33
Ian Hewetson
@ianhew
ihewetson@eyereturn.com