Video Ad viewability is a tool being used by companies to asses how well an advertisement is being seen. For video advertisement to make an impact, they need to be watched—not just posted.
Viewability measures whether or not an ad had a chance to be seen by a viewer. Google recently conducted research using their Active View measurement technology (basically, Active View counts an ad as ‘viewable’ if a minimum of 50% of the ad is on screen for at least two continuous seconds. I.E., the viewer is on the same tab/app as the ad while it is playing.) The study included video viewability data in browsers (desktop, mobile, and tablet) and in mobile apps.
Unsurprisingly, YouTube leads the industry. This year Google assessed YouTube as having 95% viewability of ads versus 66% of the rest of the web and apps. Mobile and tablet offer the highest viewability rates with 72% and 77%, respectively, (96% and 95% via YouTube) with desktops achieving 63% (90% Youtube).
Viewability also rates differently around the globe. In the Americas, stats come in for viewability via the ‘Rest of the Web and Apps’ between 62% and 70%, (Argentina and Colombia) and 92% and 95% via YouTube (Colombia and Brazil).
Europe, the Middle East, and Africa have a bit wider of a scope. For ‘Rest of the Web and Apps’, viewability rates range from 60% to 82% (Russia and Saudi Arabia) with YouTube viewability coming in at 94% and 95% throughout.
The Asia Pacific also has a wide range. ‘Rest of the Web and Apps’ viewability ranked between 57% and 80% (Hong Kong and the Philippines) and for YouTube, ranging between 94% and 95% throughout with the Philippines an outlier at 92%.
The United States sits at 65% viewability for ‘Rest’ and at 94% for YouTube. The United Kingdom sits at 61% viewability for ‘Rest of the Web and Apps’ while being at 95% viewability for YouTube.
Key things to take away from this:
• Viewability is a useful tool to determine the effectiveness of a video ad.
• Viewability is measured by the video being in a viewable state by the audience.
• Tablets and mobile phones are the most effective method of achieving viewability
• Google’s research indicates YouTube has the highest viewability rate among video advertisements.