• by Tyler Loechner , Staff Writer, July 2, 2015

A definition for “premium” digital advertising has proven elusive, but at least one ingredient is known: viewability.

The vast majority of marketers (86%) are mandating a viewability threshold for their digital ad campaigns this year, and just over two-thirds (70%) are expressing a growing confidence in viewability due to improvements in overall Web design, such as the infinite scroll and responsive designs.

That’s according to a new “Industry Pulse” report from Undertone. The company surveyed over 750 clients, including brands, agencies and publishers, for the report.

Despite the confidence boost and near-uniform mandate on viewability, marketers aren’t convinced that viewability is the key ingredient to “premium” ads. Only 9% of those surveyed said they think viewability is the top factor in making them confident they have captured attention.

“The great majority is mandating viewability, but less than half of marketers even understand what it means,” writes Undertone, “and very few on the buy-side are confident that viewability means attention has been captured.

“So while viewbility is a key stepping stone to attention, it’s not a solution in itself,” Undertone concludes.

Essentially, marketers are tossing viewability into the pot in hopes that the stew will still taste good in the end. There are much, much worse things to blindly toss into the pot -- viewability can’t hurt -- but this data does go to show that there is no set formula for “premium.”

The full report can be found here.