What is Ad Viewability and Why is it Important

The Growing Concept of Ad Viewability:

Ad Viewability relates to the visibility of the ad on a website. Now, this concept has also been applied on mobile for the sake of users.

Ad Viewability is a burning notion in digital advertising. It was not given attention in the last few years. Once a study showed that the majority of ads have not been seen by visitors. That’s when the concept of display ads changed. Those were the ads for which the advertisers paid. Gone are the days when the ad networks were dependent on the number of ads served. But now the networks give interest to the number of ads viewed.

Now, there is a difficult calculation for measuring the click-through ratio.

Marketers have to divide their number of ads by the summation of ad views. They will be able to calculate the success of their campaign. With the decrease in display ad views, the problem for marketers increased a lot. Many of them complained regarding this.

  • Many times the ad appears at the bottom of a webpage. The user never scrolls it. This incident should not be counted in the success of the campaign.
  • Sometimes users click away from a page because of the lengthy loading time. As a result, the user goes away before the ad gets opened.

That’s why some advertisers have started demanding that publishers should structure their advertising rates as per the views. If you also appertain to Media Company or advertiser, this is a very crucial thing for you. You have to make sure that your ads are viewed by the public.

How you can improve your Ad Viewability?

Well, this is very important to get more and more views on ads. If you are not getting views, it is time to worry. It is a big reason to think about what should be done. You should know that a high ROI is related to an improved Viewability. You should prioritize improving the visibility of your ads. It should be more important to you than anything else.

1. You can design your pages creatively.

Your ads should be capable to attract viewers. They should have good viewability potential. You can also develop a page which has a ‘sticky’ ad unit. Such ads remain locked in a specific location. They can only be accessed when the user scrolls down.

2. You have to create mobile-friendly sites.

It is because the current day individual is more comfortable in using mobiles than desktops. Make the best possible use of responsive templates. Ensure a good user experience. You will get the desired results.

3. Take help from good design principles to increase your Ad viewability.

Your ads should be clear, soothing, systematic and inviting. Experts have concluded that ads which are designed appropriately get good views. You can also try this out.

4. Speed is another important determinant for your Ad viewability.

Generally, sites that are related to multiple ad networks take too much time to load. As a result ad viewability decreases. Using techniques will increase the speed of your ad delivery.

5. Sometimes there are factors other than the delivery of ads which affect the Ad Viewability.

You should find such reasons and work on them. Use third-party software to know about such determinants.

There are many other ways to experience improved Ad viewability. You can apply the A/B test for the same. You will get to know which version of your ad is loved by people.

Importance of A/B test in improving Ad Viewability:

  1. Viewability data is the most important element for publishers: Because it increases the value of their display. When advertisers give good viewability rates to publishers, they get benefited. Various brands compare their ad viewability. This kind of comparison helps them a lot. Brands can compare rates from various publishers.
  2. Publishers are suggested to use a series of A/B tests. They should test page layouts to get feedback from visitors. They should do this to get good viewability. It will result in impressive performance and ROI. No doubt, it is an important element in digital ad campaigns and content.
  3. When you apply A/B tests, you get the reason behind your viewability. Those tests indicate the high and low areas of your ad viewability. You can make the necessary changes then.

Some Ways to improve ad viewability:

Many SEO experts have suggested a few steps to improve viewability. They have been applied. They have given fruitful results. Those steps have given 70% viewability to the ad. They are given below:

  1. Forget the thought that above the fold, ad placements generate good viewability. It is not true every time. It is because such ads may take excessive loading time. So, the user may leave the page before even the ad gets opened.
  2. It is better to use below the fold. Move your ads to the place where you think your users get engaged. Remove ads which have less than 10% viewability. This trick will work for sure.
  3. Start having ads that stick with the user. They should follow them whenever they scroll. It is a sure shot guarantee that those ads will be viewed by our user. Even Google Adsense creates sticky ads.
  4. Refreshing is very important for us. Why not apply that to increase Ad viewability. Keep on refreshing your viewable ads. But don’t mistake by refreshing them purely on the basis of the timer. You may end up hurting the viewability score of the site.
  5. Pay attention to your loading speed. Your ad should load until your user is scrolling to an ad. It is obvious that it will lead to decreased unseen ads. You have to have a faster site loading time.
  6. A slow site reduces the viewability of the ad. It is because it ends up by increasing the loading time. Your readers will leave the site before they actually get a chance to view your ad. Once gone, they won’t come back.
  7. You have to remove In-Banner Video Ads. Also, get rid of other loading ads. It will automatically decrease the loading time of your ads. Try this to experience good viewability.

The concept of digital marketing has changed over the last few years. This has led to changes in the ad policy. The above-mentioned tricks will give you a fruitful result. Try them out.

Ad Viewability:

An introduction for beginners:

IAB or the Interactive Advertising Bureau is the authority of digital ads. They have set some standards for the viewability. Such standards are based on some measurement guidelines. For your kind information, such guidelines have been prepared by MRC i.e. Media Rating Council.

Some of the major guidelines are given below:

  1. The IAB asks media persons to display ads such in a 300×250 or 728×90 banner.
  2. The ad should be loaded. It should have 50% of its pixels in view for 1 second. It means that half of the ad needs to be viewed by the user for 1 second.
  3. Advertisers can also develop ads of 242,500 pixels. In such a case, the relaxation has been given until 30%. One–third of the pixels should be in the focus browser tab for one second. It means that 1/3 of the large ads is required to be seen by a user for 1 second.
  4. If advertisers create video ads, relaxation has been given up to 50%. But 50% of the video ad is needed to be viewed by the user for a minimum of 2 seconds.
  5. It is very advantageous too. It is because those 2 seconds can be any 2 seconds of the ad.

Importance of viewability:

Advertisers pay attention to every single rupee they spend. They constantly organize “direct response” campaigns. They do so, to check the impact of online purchases.

The ads uploaded by you on your site should result in an increased purchase. Present-Day advertisers create lots of ads to increase “brand awareness.” But the conclusion can be drawn only after looking at the results. The cleverest solution to know the impact is Viewability.

The past is the witness for the concept of viewability. But this concept has taken a lift because of the advanced technology. If your ad wasn’t seen, you won’t be paid anything by your advertiser.

So, developing an ad is not important. You have to develop an ad which will get views on it.

How can beginners improve the viewability on their site?

Well, this is a very relevant question. Try simple steps to increase viewability. As you are new to this world, play a safe game.

  1. You have to perform a viewability audit for your site. You should know about the areas which are your strength. It will open new opportunities for you. Sometimes, in the absence of an audit, beginners create an unnecessary site. This leads to wastage of time and energy.
  2. You have to quest for the right tools to measure your viewability rate. Take assistance from Google AdExchange (AdX). It offers viewability metrics. Follow the below steps:
    • You can create a new query. There is a query tool available for this.
    • Then you have to choose query dimensions
    • Then build an ad unit viewability map. Remember, you are doing that for your site.

3. You have to prioritize your areas of opportunity. This will help you to make changes to your website. Take decisions related to site design. Take the necessary steps for fraud prevention.

4. You should focus well on performing pages and well-performing sections of pages. Apply controlled experiments to check the positive and negative impact of your ad viewability. Do the below-mentioned steps:

    • You have to test the number of ad units on your page. When you know what is working for you, you focus on the right things.
    • Don’t make the situation more complicated by making changes in it. You need not to make changes on your existing page.

Determinants of Ad visibility:

There are multiple factors which add up to the ad viewability. The position of the ad on the page is the most important. The size of the ad, the reference ad, and its orientation are also equally important.

Generally, the most viewable position is known to be the right side of the page. Studies have shown that vertical ads get more views than horizontal ads. It happens because such ads stay on the page for a long time.

But it is not always the position which is responsible for the viewability. It is because many times the ads above the fold are not seen by users. This happens with below the fold ads as well.

Being a fresher, you have to pay attention to everything. You have to learn. All in all, you have to improve your ad viewability. You should do anything to get your ads viewed.

Some tips and suggestions for beginners:

  1. Place your Ads on the right side of the page. Initially set your ads above the page fold.
  2. Develop vertical ads. They will stay on the page for a long time. You will automatically get good views.
  3. Don’t hesitate to advertise your site on various social media platforms. Relevant ads succeed in inviting more visitors to view the ads.
  4. Be creative enough to attract the viewer. It will be suggested to use logos and images.
  5. Have good content on your ad. Your user should love it.
  6. Get connected to your customer. Your ad should not take much loading time.

The bottom line:

Viewability holds the potential to make a positive impact on online advertising. It is very astonishing. It has been applied by many people. All of them are happily satisfied with the results. This concept is increasing very fast. It has emerged as a boon for marketers. An individual will be able to track the user’s impressions. Now, the advertisers don’t pay for the ad. They pay only for the ads which are viewed.

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