Not all ad impressions are created equal. Increasingly, advertisers, publishers and advertising industry groups are adopting the position that it’s better to measure viewed impressions rather than served impressions.
At Facebook, we agree that viewed impressions are a better way to measure ad delivery. The reason is simple: if an ad is viewed it has a greater chance to drive value for an advertiser. That’s why we use viewed impressions to measure ad delivery across desktop and mobile.
Today we’d like to share some information on this issue and explain what viewed impressions mean for advertisers on Facebook.
The current state of impressions
You may be wondering: what’s the difference between a “served” impression and a “viewed” impression?
Both are related to how delivery systems for digital ads work.
If an ad is served, it means that a publisher has told its system to deliver an ad. As long as the system registers delivery of the ad, it’s counted as a success. What happens next is less certain. The ad could appear someplace where lots of people see it, like the top of a website homepage. Or it might be served without anyone ever seeing it. For instance, the ad could appear far down at the bottom of a web page (below the fold). Or a person could visit a site and then leave before the ad has fully rendered.
Viewed impressions add an extra layer of analytical rigor, as well as common sense. They more accurately define delivery and help ensure that people have seen the ads they’re supposed to see.
Why track viewed impressions?
For years, served impressions have been a standard unit of measure when it comes to digital ad delivery. Even today, many publishers use served impressions as their standard for measuring media. However, measuring served impressions means there’s often a big gap between the number of ads served and the number that are actually seen.
Measuring viewed impressions is a better solution. Here’s why:
  1. Value. Our research shows that value is created as soon as an ad is seen, even if only a portion of the ad was seen for a brief period of time.
  2. Consistency. Our measurement standards are applied across all interfaces (mobile and desktop) and ad types, allowing for easy cross-media measurement and comparison.
  3. Fair pricing. Using viewed impressions as the standard makes it easier for our ad delivery system to ensure that advertisers pay a fair price for the real business value their ads create. We don’t charge for impressions that aren’t viewed.
How Facebook counts viewed impressions
We measure an ad impression the moment an ad enters the screen of a desktop browser or mobile app. If an ad doesn’t enter the screen, we don’t count it as an ad impression. In the next few months, we will apply similar standards to organic content from businesses.
Going forward
The shift from served impressions to viewed impressions is ongoing. In 2014, the Media Rating Council (MRC) released a standard for measuring viewable impressions on desktop. The MRC standard represents when the “opportunity to see” an ad is established; it doesn’t purport to represent an ad’s effectiveness, or when a brand message is transferred. Some advertisers and agencies have added additional criteria to better understand the effectiveness of their ads on driving business outcomes, including Facebook. The MRC supports these efforts.
We are working with the MRC and a consortium of advertisers and agencies to develop more robust standards for viewable impressions. Our goal is to work with the MRC, our partners, and industry leaders around the world to help apply further standards for feed-based websites like Facebook, mobile media and new ad formats.
Our partners agree on the value of viewed impressions
We’re working closely with Facebook and they’re doing compelling research around the viewable status and value of advertising of all types of impressions on their media, including those that quickly come in and out of view on a person’s screen. We will continue to collaborate and ensure that we consider the learning relevant to feed-based, mobile focused publishers in our viewable impression standard going forward.” — George Ivie, CEO and Executive Director at Media Rating Council
Adherence to viewable impressions is one of the reasons we count Facebook as a primary media partner. We buy ads to grow our business, not fill impression quotas; and we don’t invest in creative only for it to go unseen. Reasonable standards are good for media buyers and providers.” — Brandon Rhoten, VP, Digital & Social Media at The Wendy's Company
Any effort by marketers to reach consumers is driven by the concept that their message has the opportunity to be viewed, which is why we align with Facebook on the their approach to viewability. By working closely with our media partners like Facebook and the Media Rating Council we hope to lead the charge on setting standards for viewed impressions that would drive the industry in the right direction and, in turn, ensure our clients get the most return on investment.” — Julian Zilberbrand, EVP Activation Standards, Insights and Technology, ZenithOptimedia Group