In a bid to paint a more accurate picture of online viewability, Google has unveiled a new tool which will check whether users are actually viewing video ads.
Speaking at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Google’s vice president of display and video advertising, Neal Mohan, said that US advertisers will now be able to tell whether clips delivered via Google’s DoubleClick ad services are skipped or ignored, letting marketers “fine-tune” their campaigns.
Mohan explained that the company is looking for new ways to “show off” the effectiveness of digital video advertising as the industry seeks to attract more marketing dollars from television.
Google has explicitly stated that it will adhere to the industry definition for video viewability (as set by the MRC and Making Measurement Make Sense in the US), with 50% or more of the video being on screen for two seconds or longer.
“I’m incredibly excited about the future of digital video for brand building,” said Mohan. “No other medium brings together sight, sound and motion – and incredible measurability.
“This is the start of what we expect will be a year of leaps forward in the industry in making digital work for brand advertisers. So watch this space for more to come.”
The body which represents UK advertisers, ISBA, has welcomed the move, with its director of media and advertising, Bob Wootton, saying: “Google’s attempt to give advertisers more visibility into the number of video ads that are actually seen by users is a step in the right direction.
“However, this must and should also mean that the search giant should not charge or will reimburse advertisers for advertising that isn’t viewable and doesn’t meet the viewability standard.
“In addition, there is a discussion to be had around the Media Rating Council’s Viewability Standard that has been implemented in the US. Seeing an ad for two seconds with 50% in view surely is a very low bar to meet when talking about ‘viewable’ impressions.”
