Viewability has taken over the digital advertising world and redefined what qualifies for a meaningful ad impression. A viewable video impression occurs when at least 50% of an ad’s pixels are visible on the screen for at least two consecutive seconds, as defined by the Media Rating Council and the Internet Advertising Bureau. According to a recent report published by Google, the average viewability of video ads across the web is just 54%. This is contrasted by 92% viewability of video ads on YouTube. This means that on average, consumers see just one in two of your non-YouTube video ads.
Why Video Ads Aren’t Being Seen
Video ads don’t get much screen time. In fact, 76% of non-viewable ads were never onscreen at all. These are the ads that are hidden in a background tab or are just completely off of the screen. The other 24% of non-viewable ads were scrolled off-screen or abandoned in less than two seconds, falling below the viewable criteria.
The location and size of video ads have a huge impact on viewability, giving YouTube a strong advantage. YouTube ads are displayed in a large video player at the center of the screen, and Google’s findings stipulate that the best position for a video ad is at the center and top of a webpage. Outside of YouTube, this is a difficult location to place your ad. Additionally, the most popular ad size by volume is 300 x 250. This ad size achieves just 20% viewability. This is likely because it is not large enough to capture the viewers attention and can easily be scrolled off screen. The second most popular ad size is significantly larger at 848 x 477. Having a larger video player boosts the viewability rate up to 89%. This is a huge discrepancy and demonstrates that small video ads are hardly worth the effort. This is where YouTube thrives due to the large video player at the top of the screen.
Mobile Viewability Blows Away Desktop
Google’s report provides some encouraging data as well. Video ads are considerably more viewable on mobile and tablet than on desktop. Web-based video ads receive 83% and 81% on mobile and tablet respectively. Desktop receives just 53% viewability. From this, it is clear that web-based video advertising, outside of YouTube, will significantly shift towards mobile.
YouTube also receives a nice viewability lift on mobile and tablet. The already impressive YouTube desktop viewability of 87% is trumped by viewability of 94% on both mobile and tablets. With more than half of YouTube views now being on mobile devices, this is a wise placement for your video advertisements, almost guaranteeing that your ads will be seen.
Most video advertising is done on a cost-per-view basis (CPV), meaning you pay each time someone watches 30 seconds of your video or engages with your video. This means that you are likely not paying for the ads receiving low viewability ratings. While you may not be paying for these ads, there is not much benefit in advertising with non-viewable videos. Successful video advertising requires that your ads be big enough with good page position so that they don’t get scrolled off-screen right away, or for them to be on a mobile device or tablet.
Digital video ad spend is skyrocketing. The category is expected to grow 33% this year to $7.77 billion. If you are allocating more of your ad budget to digital video, it is crucial to measure your ROI accurately – and served impressions are clearly a misleading statistic. Instead, include a trackable call to action in your video, such as a special landing page or trackable phone number, and measure how effective the video is in driving these online and offline conversions.
