Many of the ads served on the web never appear

on a screen. But thanks to new advancements,

we can now measure which digital ads were actually

FACTORS

viewableon screen. And as advertisers shift to

VIEWABILITY

of our display advertising platforms, including

paying for viewable instead of served impressions,

its important to understand what factors aect ad

of

viewability. We explored this by conducting a study

Google and DoubleClick. Here we size up ve
factors of viewabilityfrom page position to ad
dimensions and more.

VIEWABLE IMPRESSIONS:
A new industry standard
ONE SECOND

A display ad is considered
viewable when
50% of an ads pixels
are in view on the
screen for a minimum
of one second,
as dened by the
Media Rating Council.

State of publisher viewability

Viewability Distribution Across Domains
24%
18%

%
1

00

0%
9

90

80

0%

70

0%
7

60

0%

50

0%
5

40

0%
4

30

3
20

10

0%

12%

10
%

% OF DOMAINS

A small number of
publishers are serving
most of the non-viewable
impressions; 56.1%
of all impressions
are not seen, but the
average publisher
viewability is 50.2%.

0%

Viewability rate:
Percentage of
ads determined
viewable out of
the total number
of ads measured.

DOMAIN AVERAGE VIEWABILITY

most
viewable
position

Page position matters ...

The most viewable

position is right
above the fold,
not at the top of
the page.

PAGE FOLD

300 x 250

728 x 90

320 x 50

Most Viewable Position on Page

... So does ad size

Viewability Rates by Ad Size

The most viewable ad sizes are

vertical units. Not a surprise,
since they stay on screen longer
as users move around a page.

55.6%

54.9%

53.7%

52.5%

120 x 240

240 x 400

160 x 600

120 x 600

Popular ad size rates

48.2%

46.3%

45.2%

45.0%

41.0%

468 x 60

300 x 600

970 x 90

728 x 90

300 x 250

Above the fold always viewable

Page position isnt always

the best indicator of
viewability.

average
viewability rates
ABOVE THE FOLD
BELOW THE FOLD

40%

Viewability varies across industries

46.6%

46.4%

Jobs &
Education

47.8%

44.8%

Hobbies &
Leisure

Arts &
Entertainment

Games

48.0%

Internet &
Telecom

47.1%

48.4%

Science

Business &
Industrial

47.2%

Online
Communities

While it ranges across

content verticals, or
industries, content that
holds a users attention
has the highest viewability.

48.9%

Computers &
Electronics

51.9%

Reference

Not all above-the-fold

impressions are viewable,
while many below-the-fold
impressions are.

68%

Source: Google, "The Importance of Being Seen: Viewability Insights for Digital Marketers and Publishers" study, November 2014.

thinkwithgoogle.com