MRC To Review Display Viewability Standard, Tackles Cross-Media Measurement

As the Media Rating Council (MRC) prepares to address cross-media measurement, it will also review its display viewability standard of 50% of pixels in view for at least one second.

Some industry players like GroupM require 100% of pixels to be in view. A review of the standard could make the definition of a view stricter.

The standard creates a benchmark metric that buyers and sellers can transact on and it removes non-viewable inventory from the media supply chain. It also serves as a qualifier for inclusion in an audience metric calculation.

MRC Senior VP David Gunzerath said the media auditing and accreditation group reviews its measurement standards on an ongoing basis "to see if they’re serving the marketplace effectively. That’s not new.” 

Addressing cross-measurement, “We’ll look at everything that goes into those new standards including viewability.” He said this project will begin in the next month or two.

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The cross-media measurement guidelines the MRC will develop have to do with audience metrics. For example, how should GRPs (gross rating points) be calculated and reported in a way that would be comparable between digital and TV? Other considerations include the duration of an event which, in digital audience standards, is a duration-weighted GRP -- and how much of an ad was viewed.

Separately, Gunzerath also said the media audit for Google’s YouTube is underway and that reports will be available for MRC audit committees’ review by late Q3 or early Q4.

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