19 July 2014

Media Ratings Council Greenlights The Ad Impression Metric For Video Ads

By Ismail Abraham


Advertising online often goes through significant changes from time to time depending upon the needs of advertisers, and the needs of the public. Whether you are looking at video ads, or traditional ones that use graphics and text, the way that you view them is about to change. It is very common for people to watch videos, or go to websites with information that they need, and see these types of advertisements presented.



MRC has been focused on changing the viewable ad metric for quite some time, and working with Emerging Innovations Task Force and IAB, they have proposed these changes which need to take effect in order to augment how ads are counted. This is not in just one industry, but across all industries that advertise online.

They are requiring 50% of all of the pixels that are displayed on the Internet browser to be seen for a new minimum amount of time in order to be counted. This is about one second for ads that are displayed, and for video ads, this is doubled at 2 seconds. This is a more reliable assessment of these types of ads and their impact on the public that sees them.

For instance, one second of continuous display is the proposed change for all ads that are graphical. Video ads should be displayed for 2 seconds in order to be appropriately counted. This shift will augment the way that we see ads that are displayed, and how long they must be viewed in order to be actually considered an impression.

Through a PSA campaign, these companies are spreading the word about this change that is about to occur. They are simply asking companies to consider these new viewability guidelines which must be implemented at some point. Hopefully this will create a better experience for everyone involved including those that display ads, and the public that has to view them, as they surf the Web today.

Now that you have a basic understanding of what MRC has proposed and done, you might want to chime in on how this will affect the way you surf the web, or your business for advertising. Examples of these changes are on the Internet as presented by IAB and MRC for the public to view and consider today.




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