It has always been a joke that the problem with advertising is that you waste half your money -- the tragedy is that you don't know which half. Well, digital advertisers now have a pretty good idea
thanks to figures released by Meetrics, a viewability measuring company.
Just under half -- or 49% -- of digital display bought in the UK in Q2 this year was viewable. That compared to 56% for the
corresponding quarter the year before. As such it falls below the current viewability rates of France, at 62%, and Germany, at 64%. To put it in to monetary terms, a staggering GBP485m worth of ad
budget is being spent on display nobody can see. Or at least, it's going on display that doesn't fit the IAB and MRC's guideline of half an ad's pixels being on screen and viewable for a second. It's
hardly the most pressing target, is it? Yet still, just over half of all adverts "served" end up not being in a position when they can be viewed.
Now, I know what you're thinking, because I
was thinking the same thing too. So I got in contact with Meetrics to confirm that this figure does not include ad fraud of any kind. It simple deals with adverts that appear below the 'fold' of the
screen or are misserved in some way so they don't actually appear in a viewable form.
It means the biggest question a brand advertiser can ask its media agency is a very simple one. Do you
have the tools in place to measure viewability, and are you measuring it? Am I paying for media that is never viewable, or are you ensuring I don't pay or at least get a refund for unviewable
inventory? Ok, that's a couple of questions. But they're interrelated.
The shocking answer that came back from Meetrics is that not all agencies are doing this all of the time. Now, as a
viewability measuring company, they have a dog in this fight and obviously want more agencies to sign up to use their technology. The troubling point remains, however. In today's digital advertising
age, it isn't a given that brands only pay for media that has a chance of being seen. Unless they press hard, they can end up spending half their budget on inventory that will never be in a position
where it can be viewed. And let's stress this point again, that doesn't even begin to cover ad fraud. We're only talking viewability here.
The rise of programmatic in the UK obviously
provides the opportunity for machines to misfire the odd piece of display or place it where it can't be seen. The IAB reckons that within a year or two, three-quarters or four-fifths of inventory will
be bought programmatically. So the situation will only get worse unless brands have a very forthright conversation with their media agency and ensure that if technology can be used to place ads, it
should also be used to ensure they are viewable.
Of course, half the point here is not just wasted budget, but that brands are only getting half the media they were expecting. If it were
calculated on a cost-per-click basis it wouldn't be the end of the world because there would be no ad to click on and so no charge would be made. But of course, display is based on a thousand eyeballs
and if the ad is placed where those eyeballs are not looking, then the brand loses its share of voice. Display is all about branding and awareness -- and if you think you have, say, reached a million
people with a branding message for a massive campaign for a new launch but that figure is actually only half a million, that holds major ramifications for the success of the initiative.
Sure,
in an ideal world there might be a credit note coming back your way, but actually, most brands would rather that the technology worked instantly and the bad positions were immediately made up for by
inventory that can be seen so a campaign's numbers can be reached within the correct time frame.
So if you're a brand that has not had the viewability discussion with your media agency yet or
if you're a media agency that has not proactively started the conversation with clients, alarm bells should be ringing. In fact, when only half of display is viewable, those alarm bells need to be
deafening.