Viewability ensures your ads are actually seen by real humans. With studies showing 30-50% of display ads are never viewable, understanding and optimizing viewability is critical for campaign effectiveness.
Viewability Standards
MRC Standard Definition
The Media Rating Council (MRC) defines a viewable impression as:
- Display ads: 50% of pixels in view for 1+ continuous second
- Video ads: 50% of pixels in view for 2+ continuous seconds
- Large ads (242,500+ pixels): 30% of pixels in view
đź“Š Viewability Benchmarks
Industry average viewability: ~65% for display, ~70% for video. Premium inventory often exceeds 80%. Set your viewability floor based on campaign goals—brand campaigns should aim for 70%+.
Why Viewability Matters
- Wasted spend: Non-viewable impressions have zero impact
- Brand safety: Viewability issues often correlate with quality issues
- Performance: Viewable ads convert better
- Benchmarking: Enables fair comparison across publishers
Factors Affecting Viewability
Ad Placement
- Above the fold: Higher viewability
- In-content: Variable based on engagement
- Below the fold: Lower viewability
- Sticky/anchored: Very high viewability
Ad Format
- Interstitials: Near 100% viewability
- Native in-feed: 60-80% viewability
- Standard banners: 40-60% viewability
User Behavior
- Scroll speed affects time-in-view
- Session length impacts total viewable time
- App switching can interrupt viewability
Measuring Viewability
Verification Vendors
Third-party measurement ensures objective viewability data:
- IAS (Integral Ad Science)
- DoubleVerify
- Moat (Oracle)
- Pixalate
SDK-Based Measurement
Mobile viewability requires SDK integration for accurate measurement—JavaScript-based methods don't work reliably in apps.
"If you're not measuring viewability with a verified SDK solution, you're likely overestimating actual ad exposure by 20-40%."
Optimizing for Viewability
For Advertisers
- Set viewability thresholds in programmatic buys
- Pay premium for guaranteed viewability
- Exclude low-viewability placements
- Use viewable CPM (vCPM) pricing
For Publishers
- Optimize ad placement for visibility
- Implement lazy loading thoughtfully
- Reduce ad clutter that hurts viewability
- Monitor and improve low-viewability placements
Viewable Inventory at Scale
ClicksFlyer offers viewability-verified inventory with transparent measurement and reporting.
Learn MoreViewability is table stakes for serious advertisers. Make it a core metric in your reporting, and you'll make better decisions about where to invest your ad budget.