The OLV View is a Fiat Currency

What constitutes a digital advertising video view?

The industry's governing body, the IAB, takes the stance that a linear video impression is the same as any digital ad impression; it’s counted when served. However, since nearly all video ad content – commercials on television and programming meant purely for digital distribution – almost always gets uploaded to YouTube, the Google site’s counter has become the de facto currency used by marketers to determine relevance, popularity and “virality.”

But what are the mechanics behind how that counter ticks up? When a sixty second pharmaceutical ad is watched for six seconds, should that count as a view? What about 20 seconds of a 10 minute professionally produced episodic story? Who should be the arbiter of how much exposure equates to the ultimately measured metric? Right now, it seems like YouTube is setting that rate and in doing so, they have created a fiat currency that’s not tied back to any commonly accepted standard.

This is becoming a bigger issue as new video formats and lengths emerge and new definitions are created by competing platforms. From Facebook to YouTube and Vimeo to Vine, different platforms prescribe their own set of rules that determine what exactly counts as a view. All have value, but with so many different currencies floating around, it’s impossible to get an accurate total view count on a video campaign. That's why we here at Virool are calling for an industry-wide definition. We need one reserve currency that can be equilvalized to from a variety of formats. Here is why we believe that this gold standard for video views should be 30 seconds.

First, branded videos are getting longer. Take AdWeek for example, who every year issues a list of the Top 10 Most Viral Brand Videos. In 2014, the average length of the Top 10 Best Video Ads was 2:16. This is a 61% increase from the 2013 list and a 450% increase from 2012!

Not only are brands exploring longer video formats, but people are receptive to them. From 2013 to 2014, Virool saw a 177% increase in social engagement for all videos that are 30 sec - 1.5 min in length. This means that people were liking, sharing, posting, tweeting -- simply screaming -- about long-form, branded content. Are we now seeing the death knell for the 15 and 30 second spot? Likely not, but it’s certainly a wake up call for the industry as consumers increasingly skip, block and find every way possible to avoid interruptive, made for the masses TV commercials and their repurposed cousin, the pre-roll.

That being said, we can learn a thing or two from TV advertising. In television, all formats equalize to the 30 second spot. If a TV buyer wants to place a 15 second commercial, they pay half the unit cost of a :30. If they want a 60 second spot, the price is double. TV buyers are simply paying for the length of time they communicate with a viewer.

It should be that simple for online. A Vine view is counted at 6 seconds and Facebook at 3 seconds: If we use the same model that TV employs, then buyers can measure an impression as one fifth for a Vine view and one tenth for a Facebook view. Put another way, whether we trade in Euros or Yuan, all currencies have a value equated back in dollars. In this case, 30 seconds is the Dollar.

Billie Goldman is the mastermind behind Intel Inside Films; award-winning, branded social videos that are 10 minutes long. She launched her 4th social film effort, What Lives Inside exclusively on Hulu on 3/25. I asked Billie for her thoughts on the Facebook model and she said, “why should I pay after 3 seconds? My episodic content is 10 minutes long! It doesn’t make sense. I only want to pay if we know that the person has actually watched my content.”

We agree. As agencies and advertisers all seem to be setting their own definitions for viewability, they should also be able to do so for the “view." That's why at Virool, we allow our customers to determine for themselves, the value they’re willing to place on how much of their message gets seen and for how long. For example there could be one price for 80% pixels in view for 45 seconds and another for 95% pixels in view for 1:05. A price/volume curve will show the impact your definition has on the plan. In early Q2, our self-service users, upon request, will be able to customize these settings for themselves, within our platform. So again, we will continue to qualify a view of linear, in-stream videos after :30 as a reporting line-item but will also allow custom definitions along side it.

Let’s face it, it’s never been a better time to be a content creator as we’re no longer tied to the shackles of one size fits all formats of the past. As new platforms, environments and units continue to emerge, there will be countless new ways in which we can better engage with viewers. Having a standard with which to equivalise the time of exposure to that viewer is key to understanding how each placement in your mix affects marketing outcomes. Is there value in an MRC defined two second count? Sure, but it should be the client who decides and at what price. By standardizing the view to the most successful ad format in the history of marketing and reporting on its definition across all inventory sources, while also allowing the customer to create their own definitions as well, we can look to the future while trading in a common currency that we all know and trust (and still invest the majority of media dollars in).

Join our movement to establish an industry standard! #ViewDefined