Off YouTube, Nearly Half of Web Video Ads Unseen

Video ads get great response–if they are seen. But almost half (46%) of video ads served across the Internet–excluding YouTube–will never be seen by consumers in the United States, according to a study from Google recently reported by The Drum marketing site. Viewability depends both on where an ad is served on a page and how quickly it disappears when a user scrolls. And nearly a quarter (24%) of video display ads today are scrolled off screen in less than two-seconds, according to the report, which recommends that advertisers use video players in a higher and more centrally located position on web pages. Another way to insure that video ads are seen is to go with YouTube. Google found that viewability figures massively improve when ads are served on YouTube, where over nine out of 10 will be viewable. Also, video ads are significantly more viewable on mobile devices, where 83% of ads are viewable, compared with 81% on tablet and just 53% on desktop. For the full story, read http://www.thedrum.com/news/2015/05/11/only-half-video-ads-served-across-web-will-be-seen-versus-91-youtube-says-google

Over Half of Online Display Ads Unseen, Per Google

Online advertisers potentially throw away half their budgets paying for display ads that go unseen, per a new Google study. Business Insider recently reported that Google's analysis of its own display ad platforms found a whopping 56.1% of all impressions served could never have been actually seen because they were served outside of the browser window. Of course, if advertisers buy on a cost-per-click basis they are not paying for those lost impressions, but expected response is slashed regardless. What are the factors determining viewability per Google's study? Page position is an obvious issue. Google found that the most viewable ad position is right above the page fold (the lowest point on the page before a user has to scroll) rather than right at the top of the page as many advertisers assume. Above the fold is still not always viewable, but it’s the most likely place for an ad to be seen. Another factor impacting viewability is ad size. Bigger is better, and vertical ads garner the highest viewability rates, probably because they stay on the page longer as a user scrolls. The targeted content vertical also makes a difference to viewability. Sites associated with the most captive engagement levels—reference, online communities and games—have far higher viewability scores than content about food and drink, news or real estate, for example. For details of Google's online ad viewability statistics, see the Business Insider article at http://www.businessinsider.com/google-display-ad-viewability-study-2014-12