Online ad viewability levels in the
UK decreased dramatically from 54% to 47% in the second quarter of 2016, the
lowest level for 18 months, according to a new report from ad verification
company Meetrics. The last time it was lower was 46% in Q4 2014.
Consequently, the UK lags further behind other European countries in terms of
viewability levels: Austria stands at 69%, France at 62% and Germany at 60%.
“Viewability in the UK is more volatile than other major European markets due to the higher penetration of programmatic and automated ad buying,” said Anant Joshi, Meetrics’ Director of International Business. “The surge in ads bought programmatically contributed to the decline in viewability, which was compounded by publishers upping the speed at which ads are re-loaded or auto-refreshed to raise inventory levels and revenue. Around 20% of ads weren’t viewable because they weren’t in the frame for long enough – the highest rate we’ve seen due to this reason for some time.”
An ad is considered viewable if it meets the IAB and Media Ratings Council’s recommendation that 50% of it is in view for at least 1 second.
The impressive figures for the Austrian market come off the back of an agreement by the majority of publishers to move to billing by viewable impressions by selling their inventory based on an independent viewability definition agreed by a dozen leading advertisers.
Joshi notes: “The Austrian market was one of, if not the, first to try such an initiative and the benefits in terms of far higher viewability rates are plain to see.”