Recently the concept of a viewable impression has taken centre stage in the digital ecosystem. There are many definitions of what a viewable impression is. One company defines a viewable impression by the percentage of the ad that must be within the visible area of a viewer’s browser window for at least one second with the click though functionality active. This is a good start, but if this were a 30- second TV commercial and the buyer posted that only 60% of the purchased GRPs or impressions were delivered, the client would demand a make good or some sort of compensation for the remaining audience.

So what is a viewable impression and how did we come to this place where it is acceptable that anywhere from 10 – 40% of impressions are not in view? Lets start with the definition of a viewable impression. At a basic level, 100% of the ad surface should be within the visible area of a viewer’s browser window on an in focus page for the duration of one full cycle of the ad. As with any media channel, the system can’t guarantee that attention was paid to the ad, but at the very minimum, it was there to be seen. This is even more important when we start to measure the viewable impression for video. Video can cost significantly more than standard online ads, and we should be working toward a model where the full video is viewed and paid for accordingly. The idea that 10% – 40% of impressions are not in view is unacceptable, nor is it consistent with industry norms. I don’t believe that our industry has accepted this fate, but rather we now need to focus our attention to evolving acceptable standards.

Evolving the measurement of an impression count is tremendously important for the credibility of our industry. We should and must be buying and selling an acceptable standard for measuring a delivered impression. Think about measuring view through performance, or brand engagement, how can we accurately factor in view through conversion activity or brand engagement when upwards of 40% of impressions are not actually in view?

Viewable impressions at the very least should be measured and optimized on. If nothing else it will weed out publishers who are over indexing on the out of view impression. We need transparency to increase accountability and move our industry forward. Setting standards around what is a viewable impression and at the very least tracking and optimizing against it is a good start.