Globally, the second half of 2021 showed mixed results for video ad viewability across devices. The latest Media Quality report [download page] from Integral Ad Science (IAS) shows that while CTV ad viewability was largely flat (93.1%, versus 93.3% a year earlier), mobile app video ad viewability declined significantly (from 92.6% to 85.8%).
Nonetheless, it was better news in other contexts, with desktop video ad viewability seeing a modest rise from 73.6% to 74.8%, and mobile web video ad viewability also climbing, from 73.7% to 76.6%.
Within the US, video ad viewability was not so fortunate. Bucking the global trends, desktop video ad viewability dropped, from 66.9% to 66.1%, while mobile web video ad viewability experienced a more precipitous decline, from 71.3% to 64.4%.
It was a different story for display ad viewability in the US, though, improving for desktop display (69.8% to 72.3%), mobile web display (63.1% to 69.1%), and mobile app display (82.3% to 89.3%).
Those results will be more encouraging to advertisers, whose top programmatic advertising priority this year is to increase viewability.
Time in View
Time-in-view, as defined by IAS, is “the average duration that a viewable impression remains in view.” The report notes that only impressions viewable according to the Media Rating Council standard are included in their calculation.
The average time-in-view for desktop display in the US was 20.09 seconds (down from 21.32 seconds in H2 2020), while mobile web display averaged 15.88 seconds (down from 16.25 seconds). The average time-in-view for mobile app display also experienced a decline, from 19.26 seconds in H2 2020 to 16.31 seconds in H2 2021.
Brand Risk
Brand risk, as defined by IAS, refers to “impressions on pages that are flagged for posing various levels of harm to brand image and/or reputation through association, based on seven core content categories: adult, alcohol, hate speech, illegal downloads, illegal drugs, offensive language and controversial content, and violence.”
Desktop display risk both globally and in the US has seen considerable decreases (improvement). Globally, it fell from 4.4% in H2 2020 to 1.4% in H2 2021, while in the US it decreased from 5.8% to 1.9% during that period. Likewise, desktop video risk plummeted to an average of 1.9% worldwide (down from 7.7%) and 1.8% in the US (down from 11.8%).
Similar improvements were enjoyed with mobile. Mobile web display risk decreased globally to 2.0% (from 5.8%) and in the US to 2.7% (from 8.2%). Mobile web video brand risk also decreased globally between H2 2020 (8.6%) and H2 2021 (2.7%), while improving remarkably in the US (from 14.5% in H2 2020 down to 2.6% in H2 2021).
