Don’t Rely Purely on Viewability Guarantee: Q&A with Adrian McDonald, CPO, Widespace

With viewability continuing to be the talk of the town, an increasing number of products are being developed to help advertisers achieve their viewability goals. ExchangeWire speaks with Adrian McDonald (pictured below), chief product officer, Widespace, about effectively measuring viewability in the mobile space.

ExchangeWire: Last year, Widespace launched a viewability offering. What does it entail?

Adrian McDonald: Widespace Viewability is exactly what it sounds like. It means that all bought impressions are viewable and shown to actual people. But that’s not the only value of our viewability offering; we go further than that. Our brand algorithm predicts audience relevance and makes sure that the right ad reaches the right person at the right time, creating a more engaging ad experience. Relevance is the key to driving brand engagement, which in turn increases view time, ad recall, and purchase intent.

Widespace have just released the results of the campaigns they ran. How did these campaigns perform?

The first campaigns performed really well, looking at both consumer view patterns and brand metrics. Fifty percent of the viewable ads were in screen more than three seconds; and 88% of the viewable ads were in screen for more than one second. On average, the viewable ads reached 89% of its pixels in screen.

When comparing impressions that qualify as viewable with all impressions in the same campaign, the median view time increased by 170%.

Furthermore, when we analysed the data from our Brand Impact Studies (for the viewability campaigns), we saw that viewability, coupled with a high level of relevance, delivered ad recall rates of up to 72%.

What does Widespace class as a viewable impression; and how did the actual results stack up against this benchmark?

Widespace considers an ad viewable if at least 50% of the ad’s pixels are in screen for 300 milliseconds, or longer. During the pilot period, the definition used was 30% of the ad’s pixels to be in screen for 300 milliseconds or longer. It’s important to remember that this is just the minimum requirement; and we saw early on that most viewable ads surpassed this threshold. Fifty percent of the viewable ads were in screen more than three seconds, and 88% of the viewable ads were in screen for more than one second. On average, the viewable ads reached 89% of its pixels in screen.

How does this viewability metric stack up against industry benchmarks?

Our viewability criteria has been designed with a full understanding of mobile usage patterns and behaviours and is, therefore, different from that of desktop. This makes sense because the usage patterns, and both device and content experiences of consumers aren’t comparable to other screens. To address the mobile viewability criteria in the right way, we're advising the industry to consider the following:

– Mobile offers a clutter-free environment
– The unique screen size and scrolling behaviour of consumers
– The role of loading times and device connectivity
– The ad weight and third-party scripts.

In analysis of the results, what percentage of impressions were viewable versus non-viewable?

Viewability rates vary by region, app versus mobile web, device connectivity, and loading speed. However, with our offering, advertisers are given a quality guarantee: they will only pay for the impressions which meet the minimum viewability criteria.

Were Widespace able to prove that increased viewability resulted in improved metrics further down the purchase funnel?

Yes. We proved that combining viewability with our brand algorithm increased both median view time and ad recall rates.

What was the biggest surprise yielded by the campaign results?

The biggest revelation was that viewability alone does not drive brand metrics throughout the consumer engagement funnel. It’s necessary to also apply an algorithm/delivery decisioning aimed at identifying people who will find the ad interesting. The reason for this is that interest drives higher view time, and an increase in view time drives higher ad recall rates. We also know, from previous studies, that interest directly impacts purchase intent.

Based on these findings, our advice to marketers is to avoid looking solely for a viewability guarantee; but, instead, a complete solution that delivers increased time with your target group, higher relevance, recall, and purchase intent.