While it ensures effective campaign performance for advertisers, video ad viewability is just as crucial for publishers as it can directly impact their revenue, inventory optimization, and user experience. To achieve a successful video ad monetization strategy and gain higher ROI, publishers need to enhance their ad viewability. For this reason, we decided to single out seven practical tips for improving video ad viewability on your website.
What Is Ad Viewability?
Ad viewability is a metric used to determine if an ad was actually viewable to the user, as opposed to being hidden or obscured on a webpage. In simple terms, it’s a measurement of whether the served ad on a website was actually viewed by the users.
How Is Ad Viewability Measured?
Ad viewability is usually measured based on industry standards and guidelines set by organizations such as the Media Rating Council (MRC) and Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). It refers to calculating the time (how long the video was in view) and the percentage of video in view (the portion of the video shown on the screen) to determine whether an ad counts as viewed. According to IAB, an ad counts as viewed when 50% of the ad’s pixels are in view for a minimum of two seconds.
Tips for Improving Video Ad Viewability for TargetVideo Publishers
There is no universal agreement, but a commonly accepted benchmark for ad viewability in the industry is above 50%. To achieve this, our publishers should take note of the following tips.
Use the Floating Video Player
Sticky ad units often have better viewability rates. So publishers should consider incorporating players like the floating video player on their websites. Users often scroll past videos without engaging with them. Having a player that follows the user while they browse through your web page content solves the problem. With your video constantly on the user’s screen, you will receive a higher ad viewability score. Set up TargetVideo’s floating video player in two easy steps:
- Step One: Access your player library and select the player to which you would like to apply the sticky player configuration.
- Step Two: Under Set Player Behavior, choose the Sticky Player panel, enable the Stick Player to Viewport option, and tweak the additional settings.
See the Floating Video Player in Action: Floating Video Player Demo
Use Playlists
Playlists allow publishers to organize and present multiple videos in sequential or curated order. They can create custom playlists based on topics, themes, and categories that appeal to their users. The main benefit of playlists is, of course, the continuous playback. Once one video ends, the next video in the playlist automatically starts playing, and so on. Since they have a longer duration time, playlists give publishers more room for instream ad placement and raise the chances of ad viewability.
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Activate Autoplay
A great way to boost viewability is to use a video player with autoplay functionality. This means that your videos play automatically the moment your website loads or when a user navigates to a specific section of your website page. Autoplay can especially increase viewability for pre-roll ads as they appear at the very beginning of the video.
Improve Core Web Vitals
If your website offers poor user experience, such as long loading and slow response time, chances are you’ll see a rise in bounce rates. According to Google, the bounce rate for a web page that takes one to five seconds to load increases by 90%. To avoid this, publishers should focus on better optimization of their core web vitals (LCP, FID, and CLS). In addition, you should opt for a video player that won’t hinder your website performance.
For instance, a player like TargetVideo’s lightweight video player with low latency, won’t affect your page loading time. Overall, improving your website performance can lead to better positioning on search engines and enhance website traffic, creating more opportunities for higher ad viewability.
Improve Player Latency
One of the main reasons why publishers should Incorporate a fast video player is to reduce ad loading within the video — ensuring minimum wait time between the ad call and ad playback. Publishers should use a highly-optimized video player that knows how to react (e.g., display fallback content, request a retry, etc.) when it does not receive an answer from an ad server.
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ATF vs. BTF Ads
ATF(above the fold) refers to the area of a page that the user sees without scrolling down. While anything below this abstract line is considered BTF(below the fold). The “fold” line will entirely depend on the devices users use to view a publisher’s website.
Publishers measure scroll depth to determine which areas are best for ad placement. Usually, ATF ads tend to perform better. However, you shouldn’t overpopulate your ATF area with ads for better impressions or push all your ads below the fold. Testing both options to see which ads perform better on your website should suffice.
Optimize for Mobile
With mobile traffic comprising half of overall global traffic, optimizing content for mobile is necessary. To make sure your video ads get higher viewability on mobile devices, you should focus on the size — 120×240, 240×400, 234×60, and 320×50. A good practice would be to employ the Google AMP (accelerated mobile pages) component framework and, of course, a quality AMP video player that allows publishers to serve mobile-optimized content with faster loading time for all devices.
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FAQ
1. What is the viewability of a video ad?
Ad viewability is a metric used to determine if an ad was actually viewable to the user, as opposed to being hidden or obscured on a webpage.
2. How can I improve video ad viewability?
You can improve video ad viewability by using sticky ad units, optimizing your video loading time, and making your videos playable on mobile devices.
3. How is ad viewability calculated?
By calculating the time (how long the video was in view) and the percentage of video in view (the portion of the video shown on the screen).