• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, June 10, 2013

A 2013 survey by comScore shows that just over half (54%) of digital ads are “not in view” on a Web page when a consumer visits and then leaves the page.

According to Gian Fulgoni, chairman and founder of comScore, who cited the statistic at an ARF conference session Monday, there are a variety of reasons for the lack of viewability. The one he cited is that ads are displayed “below the fold,” and viewers don’t scroll down far enough on a page to see it.

"We're working with publishers to bring the numbers up," said Aaron Fetters, director of insights and analytics, Solutions Center at the Kellogg Co.

It may seem obvious, but there is a direct correlation between viewability and sales. Kellogg has looked closely at the situation, said Fetters. He said a recent study by the cereal maker showed that a small increase in the percentage of viewable ads in a campaign can mean a big sales lift. For one brand, he said the sales lift was 75% when the level of viewable ads was increased from 50% to 70%.

According to Kate Sirkin, executive vice president, global research director, Starcom MediaVest Group, viewability is a key talking point in negotiations to buy display advertising and can be a decisive factor on where to place ads.

Billions of dollars have been shifted to digital budgets in recent years. Where are those dollars coming from? “All over the place,” Sirkin said.

Fetters said that Kellogg has shifted a significant amount of money from traditional to digital over the past five years. “We think we have a good balance right now,” he said.

Fetters added that the company has not reduced the level of advertising as a percentage of the company’s overall marketing budget. The boost in digital spending, he said, has lowered the cost of driving a sale. “We can be more efficient with the ad spend,” he said.