Effect of Viewability On Lift: A Story in Four Simple Graphs

If John Wanamaker were alive today, he might still be struggling with questions about ‘which half’ of a campaign was effective, but he surely would not argue with this statement: an ad that can’t be seen has no chance of doing its job of eliciting a feeling, emotion or action related to the advertised product or service. As such, impressions that are not seen devalue the true impact of online advertising. This reality brings forth a variety of questions about how to best measure ad delivery, evaluate the effectiveness of online advertising and value online advertising in the context of other advertising channels.

Our research study seeks to answer the following questions:

• How can one determine exactly how much ROI is lost or gained when viewability rates go down or up?
• What does that relationship look like (linear or curved)?
• Can viewability be adjusted to increase campaign lift?