Research : Online ad viewability falls across Europe - Meetrics

Online ad viewability levels across many European countries dropped noticeably in the final quarter of 2015, according to a new report from ad verification company Meetrics.

In UK, viewability levels for display ads dropped from 52% in Q3 to 50% in Q4 2015. Germany fell from 61% to 58%, France fell from 69% to 65% and Austria from 70% to 65% in Q4. 

An ad is considered viewable if it meets the IAB and Media Ratings Council’s recommendation that 50% of it is in view for at least 1 second.

“After a bit of a rally, things seem to be getting worse again,” said Anant Joshi, Meetrics’ Director of International Business. “Although in the UK, for example, the drop isn’t much, it’s the direction that’s more important. 

Current efforts to address the issue don’t seem to be working – either that or the efforts in one area are simply offsetting the inevitable falls generated by more automated buying. In Q4, around £134 million¹ was wasted on unseen banner ads alone.”

The report reveals in the UK that ‘Half-page’ ads are the most viewable format (63%) followed by ‘Billboards’ (59%). ‘Leaderboards’ are the least viewable (43%) format.

The average time viewable ads (those meeting the 50%/1 second rule) were in view was 31.4 seconds.

The report also revealed that over the last couple of years, the average amount of a web page taken up by advertising was just 8%. Joshi notes: “The ratio between advertising and editorial is much lower than you’d think – particularly with all the talk about online ad clutter. On a web-wide level, it’s simply a myth.”

The full report is available here.