1. The Case for Viewable Impressions
Putting the Count in Accountability
Peter Naylor, EVP Digital Media Advertising, NBCUniversal
peter.naylor@nbcuni.com
@prnaylor
10/2/2012

2. “There are over 4 trillion display ads served per
year now. The truth is, however, a huge chunk of
them is never seen by any humans.”
— The Viewable Impression Sea Change, 7/25/12
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3. Today’s Definition of an Impression
An impression is counted when it leaves the ad server
> >
Impression
Counted
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4. A Few Reasons Why An Impression Served
May Not Be An Impression Seen
below the fold: user
never scrolls down to it
user scrolls away too quickly
ad never fully renders user immediately clicks away
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5. The Viewable Impression: Moved From Counting
Ads That Are Served To Ads That Are Seen
> >
Impression
Counted
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6. Proposed Viewable Impression Definition
An impression is viewable if at least half the ad is viewed in a
browser for at least one second
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7. Key Constituencies Agree on the Need
The move to viewable impressions is being championed as a key
tenet of 3MS by the boards of the ANA, 4A’s and IAB as the new
industry standard
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8. Industry Precedent
The move to audience/viewable impression is already underway
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9. Viewable Impressions Deliver Consistent Metrics
The move to viewable impressions makes digital more consistent
with other media and is in line with initiatives to improve
quality, confidence and comparability in metrics industry-wide.
Viewable Impression
Consistent Metric
Apples-to-Apples Analysis
Equal Footing
Common Currency
NET EFFECT: brand advertisers have the confidence and security to move
forward with placing more ad dollars with digital media
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10. Viewable Impressions Deliver the Common
Currency Buyers Want
“[The viewable impression] is the most realistic view of internet ads
that will move the business… It’s a new currency that we can
organize around.”
— David Cohen, Chief Media Officer, Universal McCann + Chair of the 4A's Interactive-Media Council
“[Viewable Impressions] allow for easy comparison between digital
and TV.”
— Rick Hosfield, VP Content Planning & Distribution, General Mills
“We have to learn to speak the same language with online and
offline if we want to move packaged-goods business to interactive.
We've got to start with the same definition.”
— John Montgomery, Chief Operating Officer, Group M Interaction
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11. Stage 1 Pilot in Field Today
Testing structure in place to validate measurement with small
number of publishers to test technical feasibility.
Managing Agency-Marketer pilots
with billions of impressions.
Ad server & vendors underway
in testing technology
Publisher-provided inventory
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12. Vendors Have Reported a Wide Range of
Viewable Estimates:
comScore Definition: 50% of banner in view for at least 1 second
Source: comScore, The Future in Focus, 12/11
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13. Vendors Have Reported a Wide Range of
Viewable Estimates:
RealVu Definition: 60% of banner in view for at least 1 second
Source: RealVu, 12/11
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14. Unveiled ServeView™ in Q42010
“Viewable Impressions” on msnbc.com experienced record-
breaking engagement
ServeView™ Launch Observations
▪ Initial ~30% drop in ad inventory
▪ Huge increase in ad effectiveness
with “bad” impressions removed
The “viewable” ad ecosystem produces more ROI; and ad dollars producing
more ROI, beget larger budgets.
msnbc.com CTR reflects average across all available performance data for a given ad size.
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15. Among First to Test Viewable Impressions
▪ Teamed up with Horizon Media and RealVu to test viewable
impressions campaigns
▪ Several test campaigns launched in May 2012 with Horizon
Media clients
▪ Campaigns employed RealVu Technology – ensuring that only
viewable impressions would be delivered
“We want to make it clear that not every impression is
created equal. We need to level set...”
─ Lisa Valentino, VP, Digital Ad Sales at ESPN in AdWeek, May 15, 2012
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16. Finance Site Seeking Alpha Offers VCPM Inventory
Aims to identify ads as 100% viewable
“We recognize that there are many publishers you can purchase
ads from, including DSPs and networks, however do you really
know what you are purchasing and how many of your ads are
actually in-view?
Seeking Alpha is a site designed for performance."
Joseph Porcellini, Vice President of Sales,
Seeking Alpha, MediaPost, July 19th, 2012
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17. Ad Visibility Vendors Proliferate
Sources: IAB, Marketing Measurement Make Sense; Adometry, The Evolving World of Ad Verification; RealVu, Description of Methodology; Media Rating Council, Accredited Services
[1] Marking Measurement Make Sense {3MS} is the measurement initiative that is a joint undertaking of the ANA, The 4A’s and the IAB
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18. Concerns & Implications
Publishers take on burden of cost/lost impressions
ART: Design Implications
▪ Page views (editorial) vs. Ad views (revenue)
▪ Opportunity to deploy IAB Rising Stars?
▪ Appify Sites? One ad per page/no scrolling?
SCIENCE: Need to address multiple ad technology issues
▪ i-frames, auto-refresh, ad weight, data, etc.
POTENTIAL RISK
▪ The viewable impression is coming. Who is ready?
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19. Viewable Impressions: Online Display is Growing Up
Peter Stabler, Senior Analyst, Wells Fargo, September 5, 2012
▪ ―Potential change of transactional currency a major positive
for brand marketers‖
▪ ―We view marketers as the leading beneficiaries of viewable
impressions as better data should fuel better media planning
decision making and confidence in the media type.‖
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20. Thank You!
Peter Naylor
peter.naylor@nbcuni.com
@prnaylor
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