Google today announced advertisers can now buy ads based on viewability, in real time, across the company’s Google Display Network, which is used on more than 2 million sites. In other words, you can now choose to pay for only impressions where your ad has a chance to be seen.
Viewability is defined as whether an ad is actually visible on a page. The option was previously available for reservations buys on the Google Display Network, but now it’s finally available in the auction on a CPM basis globally as well, across desktops, tablets, and phones.
Google explains how it works:
This new buying option is based on Active View, our MRC-accredited viewability measurement solution. Through an algorithmic review of publisher sites, our systems will show ads only in ad slots most likely to be viewable, and you only pay for the ones measured as viewable according to the IAB/3MS standard: 50% of the ad visible on the page for one second or longer. You will also see a report of how many viewable impressions you received for any given campaign, which can help make future campaigns even more effective.
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The company has argued before that making viewability a basis for buying, selling, and measuring media is the future. Brand advertisers can launch their most creative campaigns while publishers can more fairly value all of their inventory, or at least that’s the vision.
Many people forget that despite all the various industries Google is in, search and ads are still its bread and butter. The majority of the company’s revenue comes from advertising, and improvements like this one are much more important to its bottom line than the latest Chrome or Android release.
See also – Google updates AdSense to support serving ads on HTTPS pages and Google redesigns AdWords Express with clearer stats and graphs, faster signup, and real-time ad previews
Top Image Credit: Adam Berry / Getty Images
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