Study validates IAB’s 70% viewable threshold for measured impressions and identifies correlating performance metrics
New York, NY – Sizmek (NASDAQ: SZMK), an open ad management company for multiscreen campaigns, today released its Viewability Benchmark Report, Winter 2015. The study, conducted by Sizmek Research, analyzed viewability data from more than 240 billion measured impressions in 2014 to identify trends related to the newly defined ad performance metric.
Sizmek Research found the IAB’s ‘State of Viewability Transaction 2015’ – specifically its recommendation of using a threshold of 70% of impressions across the campaign to meet the viewability standard – to be a reliable benchmark for ad performance. This means that of all measured impressions – those that could be measured by a vendor’s tools – 70% of those campaigns’ impressions should meet the minimum standard viewability rate of 50% of the ad in view for at least one second. The study showed that click-through and interaction rates for ads with measured impressions above an average viewable threshold of 70% are significantly higher than ads with measured impressions less than the 70% threshold. The report also identified other factors that enhance an ad’s chances of being seen.
Several clear trends emerged from Sizmek data:
- Ads with a 70%+ viewable threshold had significantly higher performance across all measured impressions
- Viewable rates increase as advertisers adopt more interactive formats
- HTML5 improved viewable rates more than Flash
- Mobile-specific-sized creative was more viewable than desktop-sized creative for both publisher direct and DSPs/exchanges
- Ads served direct to publishers increased viewability over ads served via programmatic
“The specifics and definitions will no doubt continue to be debated, but the recent efforts at standardizing viewability terminology move the industry toward a more transparent marketplace for digital ads, and our research backs that up,” says Alex White, VP Product Strategy at Sizmek. “Clearly, measuring whether an ad is viewable gives the industry a starting point for trading in true engagement.”
“We encourage ongoing empirical work around viewability, especially viewability as defined by the MRC,” said Sherrill Mane, Senior Vice President, Research, Analytics, and Measurement at IAB. “We are encouraged, in turn, by the results of Sizmek’s study.”
The Sizmek benchmark study is available here to download.
About Sizmek
Sizmek is the world’s largest independent third party ad server working with over 3,400 agencies, over 17,000 brand advertisers, and 22,000 global web publishers, serving ads in 60 countries. An Open Ad Management company, Sizmek gives online advertisers, agencies, publishers, and trading desks the freedom of choice, flexibility, and full end-to-end capabilities to drive exponential ad performance across multiple devices and channels. Bringing together best-in-class online advertising tools, technology, and strategic guidance, clients are able to cultivate deeper relationships with customers around the world via local offices throughout North America, EMEA, LATAM, and APAC.
