Everything you knew about viewability has changed. Finally.

In January of this year, Allison Schiff wrote an article in AdExchanger, claiming 2016 Will Be The Year Of Mobile (Viewability).

Turns out, she’s probably right.

Just this week, the MRC along with the IAB, MMA and 3MS (ANA, 4A’s and IAB), issued the final version of its Mobile Viewable Advertising Impression Measurement Guidelines.

If you expect to transact mobile media based on viewability, you should read the full report.

Here are some high level inclusions you should know:
- Definitions didn’t change.
- Display is 50% or more Density-Independent Pixels in view for 1 continuous second.
- Video is 50% or more Density-Independent Pixels in view for 2 continuous seconds.
- Engagement or “strong user interaction” can count towards viewability. Examples include a user tapping to minimize or close ads, clicks once a video has started playing and swipes or flips in large format or full screen ad units
- “Measurement based on the ad itself is generally preferable”, which translates to tags sitting on the creative, and can be typically managed by a universal tag
- “Ad container-based measurement is also acceptable”, which translates to measuring the ad container sitting publisher side but may require the integration of Software Development Kits (SDKs) or the use of an Application Programming Interface (APIs)
- Valid viewable Renderered Mobile Served Ad Impressions specify that “an ad was delivered and loaded/rendered within a browser or container in an application”
- It is encouraged “that the orientation of video ads be disclosed as part of placement level reporting”, which is important when determining the viewability of vertical video vs pre-roll as an example
- “Mobile Web viewability can typically be measured through JavaScript”
- However, cross-domain iFrame scenarios may require other measurement or assets, which is a challenge considering consumers can now browse the web via popular Apps like Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc
- SDKs while commonplace in mobile App advertising, still require a great deal of oversight and development to be reliable, relevant, compliant with new OS versions, secure user data, not materially affect the App performance and scalable - important when considering there are millions of popular Apps in the App stores
- Given the limitations on the SDK approach, it is important to consider other scalable solutions
- Mobile Rich Media Ad Interface Definitions (MRAID) offers “a standardized set of commands, designed to work with HTML5 and JavaScript”, through a single API that an SDK can support
- A limitation here is that MRAID 2.0 on it’s own was not designed to fully address viewability and “measurers utilizing MRAID 2.0 are strongly encouraged to deploy” Page Visibility APIs to assist in mobile viewability measurement
- “MRAID 3.0 contains additional features that assist in viewability measurement” but encounter other limitations at a Density-Independent Pixel level, amongst other things
- The MRC goes further in recommending the “development of an open-source standard SDK by the industry that can be used by all parties” - which is the only likely solution that could drive scalable adoption of SDKs for the purposes of measuring viewability in Apps
- Regardless of recommendations and solutions, the MRC reinforce that limitations should be adequately disclosed via methodological documents - something that was historically lacking during the earlier days of viewability as the industry shifts from desktop to mobile
- Pre-Bid Viewability while an emerging trend in programmatic media buying is still plagued with challenges such as assumptions on Density-Independent Pixel thresholds, rendered state of ads (served ads), periodic review and precision. Directionally, Pre-Bid Viewability will help in automated media buying, but is not the same as measuring true viewability once an ad renders
- “Measurers should segregate mobile ad impressions from desktop ad impressions in their reporting”, as it is a known fact that measured rates differ significantly. The same rule applies to measuring Mobile Web vs Mobile App viewability

Like everything in ad tech, you can expect to see this evolve over time. For now, the MRC have removed some of the guesswork for advertisers that seek to only pay for mobile ads that are viewable. That is good for the continued growth of mobile, and a giant leap in maintaining trust.