Broadcast Viewability at 73%, Other Areas Lag Far Behind

Beware of averages. While broad averages show online video viewability improving, dig into the data to discover that some areas have much stronger viewability than others. According to the 2018 Global Video Benchmarks report released by video marketing platform Innovid, broadcast publishers saw viewability rates of 73 percent in 2017. But broadcast viewability was far higher than that of other areas. Online publishers that aren't broadcasters (such as menshealth.com and nytimes.com) saw viewability rates of only 46 percent. And platforms and aggregators (a category that includes companies offering a buying platform or aggregating publishers) saw viewability rates of 42 percent.

For its viewability measures, Innovid used the MRC definition where an ad is considered viewable if half of its pixels are onscreen for at least two consecutive seconds.

"As viewability increases for broadcast publishers, it's important for marketers to focus their efforts on better media that allows their videos to shine," the report says.

Perhaps viewability is one reason marketers are placing more of their campaigns with broadcast publishers. Innovid says 29 percent of campaigns were distributed with broadcast publishers in 2016, while 35 percent were in 2017.

Connected TV saw a huge rise in video impressions, growing by 178 percent in 2017. Mobile saw a huge rise, as well, and now streams more impressions than does desktop. In Q4, mobile video ads under 10 seconds grew by 8 percent.

"This shows that marketers are expanding their reach and adapting to digital audiences that are consuming content on-the-go (mobile) as well as in their living rooms (CTV). The next step is to optimize for those environments," the report says.

All data from Innovid's report comes from campaigns run on its platform in 2017. For more on broadcast viewability, connected TV's rise, and the role of data in video campaigns, download the report for free (registration required).

Troy Dreier's article first appeared on OnlineVideo.net