• by Anant Joshi , Op-Ed Contributor, November 18, 2015

Only the incredibly convoluted world of online advertising can generate such in-depth discussions about so basic a concept as whether someone should pay for something they don’t get. In this case, it’s about whether online publishers and the ad tech industry can ensure an advertiser’s ads are viewable.

I’m not going to waste time by adding more theory to a very obvious answer. Instead, I’ll focus on the key steps that can be taken to maximize the chances of ads being viewable.

It’s vital at the outset to clarify what we mean by the term "viewable." It is purely about providing the opportunity for an ad to be seen -- not guaranteeing it will be seen. These two elements are entirely different, and often confused.

I’d add, the latter is pretty impossible -- aside from intensely irritating pop-ups.

Think of TV ads: An advertiser knows the ad will be served in the break and take up the whole TV screen (the opportunity), but the broadcaster has no control whatsoever whether the TV is on, if the channel is chosen, or if the person is looking at the screen or even in the room (the guarantee).

How bad is the problem?

The level of online ad viewability in the U.K. has dropped noticeably over the last year to just over 50%, with the rise in programmatic buying playing a major role. Various studies suggest the U.S. has also been hovering around the 50% mark. In other words, only about half of display ads served met the Interactive Advertising Bureau and Media Ratings Council’s recommendation that an ad is considered viewable if 50% of it is in view for at least one second.

Based on the IAB’s digital ad spend report, that’s about £1 billion wasted annually on ads that don’t have a proper opportunity to be seen.

There are various reasons why ads aren’t viewable. Probably the most common is that people simply move to a different part of the page, or a new page before the ad has had a chance to load. This accounts for about 20% of non-viewable ads.

The next is that the ad loads, but too small a part of it is viewable on the screen, and the viewer never scrolls in a way that makes more of it viewable.

Then comes the simple fact that the ad is served outside what’s viewable on the screen -- be it on either side or below the fold. Ads are also not seen because they’re served on "inactive" tabs: ones the viewer has open but isn’t looking at.

How do you overcome it?

So, here’s a list of key actions to take to maximize the chance of your ads being seen, grouped into five key areas.

1. Measure. Before you do anything, understand what viewability levels your campaigns are currently achieving. To do this, you ideally want to work with one measurement provider that can also help with audience verification, brand safety and fraud detection. The provider must be able to measure as many different ad formats as possible. There are a lot of providers, and this aspect is often overlooked.

Crucially, use a provider accredited by an industry body, such as the Media Rating Council in the U.S., or the The Joint Industry Committee for Web Standards in the U.K.

2. Define. You need to decide how you’ll define a viewable ad. Are you happy with the 50% for one-second definition for a viewable display ad, or 50% for two seconds for a video ad? Or do you want to come up with your own?

Either way, it’s vital that you agree and align your definition with all parties in your ad supply chain: advertiser, agency, ad-tech provider, measurement provider and publisher.

You’ll also need to agree beforehand on other rules about how the campaign is assessed, such as targets (e.g., what percentage is acceptable in terms of impressions served that meet your viewability definition) and outcomes (e.g., what action will be taken for non-viewable impressions: no payment, part payment, full payment?).

3. Be realistic. As tempting as it is to reach for the moon, don’t create unrealistic milestones or targets, particularly in the early days. You won’t be able to improve things overnight, and unrealistic aims can affect all parties’ motivation.

As part of your campaign "rules" for viewability, you may want to throw in a "tolerance" range for any deviations, again more for the early days.

4. Monitor studiously and continually. There’s little point in studiously setting up the parameters and then ignoring them till the end of the campaign. Set up alerts to flag if any of the thresholds aren’t reached so you can tweak and improve "in-flight."

It’s particularly important that advertisers monitor results from low-price inventory. You must be prepared to remove such inventory from the plan if it’s not worth even the cheap price you’re paying.

5. Be honest. Agencies and providers have a duty to provide clients with honest reporting. This is essential in the long term, to encourage clients to continue and increase investment in digital advertising. Even if the reporting seems bad, it’s an opportunity to highlight inefficiencies and improve them.

In turn, publishers have a responsibility to avoid trying to increase page impressions at the expense of visibility levels. Publishers need to work toward improving viewability by focusing on content with a high engagement factor. It’s in publishers' own interests to produce advertising content that is highly visible on all types of devices -- thus creating a unique selling point that is hard to beat. These publishers are the ones that will make out well in the long run, as trading on viewability becomes a standard.