May 2015
Are Your Video Ads
Making an Impression?
Video Ad Viewability Insights for
Digital Marketers and Publishers
WHAT WE WANTED TO KNOW
We conducted research using our Active View technology to learn about the
current state of viewable video impressions on the web.
Viewability is top of mind for many advertisers and publishers now that the
Media Rating Council has lifted the viewable transaction advisory for video.
Seeking enhanced ROI, brand advertisers hope to ensure that their video ads
are seen. Publishers are receiving more RFPs and are looking to enhance site
viewability, using viewable impressions as a currency to do so.
Here we highlight the broad findings and insights we discovered during our
analysis of the research data to help advertisers and publishers better
understand the current state of viewable video impressions.
thinkwithgoogle.com/viewability
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WHAT WE DID
Google conducted a study of our video advertising platforms, including
Google, DoubleClick, and YouTube, to better understand video ad viewability
on YouTube and across the web. According to the Media Rating Council and
IAB standard, a viewable video impression occurs when at least
50% of an ad’s pixels are visible on screen for at least two consecutive
seconds. For the purpose of this report, we are using this definition across
both desktop and mobile devices.
We analyzed two separate sets of data pulled using Google’s Active View
measurement technology in April 2015:
1.  Video viewability across the web (desktop, mobile, and tablet), not
including YouTube. Mobile video app data is not available at this time, so
we have excluded it from this analysis.
2.  Video viewability data for YouTube, including both data from across the
web (desktop, mobile, and tablet) and mobile in-app ads.
thinkwithgoogle.com/viewability
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WHAT
WHAT WE
WE FOUND
FOUND
State of Video Ad Viewability
The average viewability of video ads across the web (not including YouTube) is 54%
and on YouTube is 91%.* Device Matters
Video ads are significantly more viewable on mobile and tablet than on desktop.
YouTube exhibits very high viewability on mobile and tablet at 94%.*
Why Video Ads Aren’t Seen
Of non-viewable ads, 76% were in a background tab or never on screen at all.
The remaining 24% were scrolled off-screen or abandoned in fewer than two seconds.
Player Size Matters
The most popular video ad player size across the web happens to be the least viewable. Large players on
video-focused sites, like those found on YouTube, for example, demonstrate significantly higher viewability.
Location, Location, Location
Horizontal and vertical positioning matter, and correlate to viewability.
*YouTube includes mobile app data
Source: Google and DoubleClick advertising platforms data, April 2015.
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State of Video Ad Viewability
State of viewability for video ads:
54%
91%
are viewable on the web
(not including YouTube)
across desktop, mobile,*
and tablet.
are viewable
on YouTube.**
*Does not include mobile apps
**YouTube numbers also include data for mobile apps
Source: Google and DoubleClick advertising platforms data, April 2015.
thinkwithgoogle.com/viewability
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Even ads that are not viewable on YouTube impact
brand lift.
Users exposed to YouTube ads that are heard and not seen had:
33.1%
more ad recall compared to
those who didn’t experience the
ad at all (control).
Source: Google and DoubleClick advertising platforms data; Google Brand Lift study data; through March 2015.
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Viewability is not uniform globally; benchmarks can
vary significantly by country.
Country
Non-YouTube*
YouTube**
United States
54%
91%
Canada
61%
91%
Mexico
80%
89%
Brazil
76%
89%
Great Britain
58%
91%
Germany
69%
92%
France
69%
89%
Italy
56%
89%
Russia
86%
91%
Japan
83%
91%
South Korea
65%
88%
India
79%
90%
Australia
64%
91%
*Does not include mobile apps
**YouTube numbers also include data for mobile apps
Source: Google and DoubleClick advertising platforms data, April 2015.
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Device Matters
Video ads are significantly more viewable on mobile
and tablet than on desktop. YouTube is 94% viewable on
mobile devices.
WEB*
100%
83%
80%
60%
YOUTUBE†
94%
87%
94%
81%
53%
40%
20%
Ta
bl
et
ob
ile
M
De
sk
to
p
Ta
bl
et
**
De
sk
to
p
M
ob
ile
**
0%
More than half
of YouTube
views are on
mobile devices.
*Does not include YouTube
**Does not include mobile apps
†YouTube numbers also include data for mobile apps
Source: Google and DoubleClick advertising platforms data, April 2015.
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Why Video Ads Aren’t Seen
Non-viewable ads are served video ads across
desktop, mobile, and tablet that don’t meet the
viewability criteria.
Of the video ads that were not seen:
76%
are never on screen
(they’re in a background
tab or simply not on the
screen at all).
Source: Google and DoubleClick advertising platforms data, April 2015.
24%
are scrolled off-screen
or abandoned in fewer
than two seconds.
thinkwithgoogle.com/viewability
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Player Size Matters
Among the most common video players across the web,
the larger the video player, the higher its viewability.
VIEWABILITY RATE BY PLAYER SIZE
VOLUME BY PLAYER SIZE
Most viewable video ad sizes
Least viewable video ad sizes
100
35%
88.6
85.9 85.8 85.4
83.8
30%
79.3
73.8
75
71.4
25%
% of Total Volume
67
57.3
52.2
50
46.4
30.3
25
20%
19%
15%
10%
26.7
19.8
7%
5%
5%
0
5%
4%
4%
3%
3%
3%
3%
3%
3%
2%
2%
Player Size
Source: Google and DoubleClick advertising platforms data, April 2015.
x
64 477
0
x
40 360
0
x
61 300
0
x
29
61
0
2
x
34
96
4
0
x
54
61
0
2
x
28
12
1
80
x
7
20
64
0
x
4
64 80
0
x
64 390
5
x
41
30
0
0
x
25
85
5
4
x
5
10
70
2
x
39
6
25
0
x
84
8
30
0
x
3
12
80 90
x
85 720
4
x
51
64
0
0
x
48
70
0
2
x
39
96
6
0
x
54
64
0
5
x
41
40
0
0
x
30
64
0
0
x
3
61 60
2
x
61 281
2
x
30 344
0
x
61 225
0
x
29
30
0
0
x
25
0
x
47
7
0
64
0
84
8
Viewability Rate
33%
Player Size
thinkwithgoogle.com/viewability
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Location, Location, Location
Video player size and its location on the page matter.
Both correlate to higher viewability.
HORIZONTAL POSITION
VERTICAL POSITION
Centered = Most Viewable
Top of Page = Most Viewable
Screen
250
750
3rd
Highest
Viewability
2nd
Highest
Viewability
Highest
Viewability
2nd
Highest
Viewability
3rd
Highest
Viewability
Pixels to Player Top
1250
1750
2250
2750
3250
3750
4250
4750
5250
5750
6250
6750
Source: Google and DoubleClick advertising platforms data, April 2015.
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Video player size and its location on the page matter.
Both correlate to higher viewability.
VERTICAL + HORIZONTAL POSITION
Top Center of Page = Most Viewable
Document Width
0
20
40
60
80
100
250
750
Pixels to Player Top
1250
1750
2250
2750
3250
3750
4250
4750
5250
5750
6250
6750
Source: Google and DoubleClick advertising platforms data, April 2015.
thinkwithgoogle.com/viewability
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WHAT THIS MEANS FOR ADVERTISERS
To maintain accurate, high viewability rates, every impression needs to be counted, not just a
sample of impressions.
Advertisers seeking viewable impressions should look at high viewability sites that engage in
best practices for video viewability.
Video viewability varies significantly by ad size. In general, advertisers should consider investing
their spend in inventory comprised of larger video ad sizes to enhance viewability.
While extremely popular, advertisers should consider buying fewer 300 x 250 ads given how poor
the viewability is for this ad size.
Page position is crucial to video viewability. Advertisers should understand how both horizontal
and vertical positioning can impact viewability for video ads.
thinkwithgoogle.com/viewability
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WHAT THIS MEANS FOR PUBLISHERS
To maintain accurate, high viewability rates, every impression needs to be counted, not just a
sample of impressions. This helps prevent any lost revenue from inaccurate sampling.
Publishers should evaluate their video ad size inventory and move away from smaller video
ads that don’t deliver the viewability rates desired by advertisers.
Page position affects the effectiveness of video ads; publishers should keep this in mind when
making video ad placement/layout decisions.
In general, moving video players to a higher and more centrally located position on the page
is recommended.
In order to achieve average viewability for their video ads, publishers need to achieve a
viewability rate of 54%.
thinkwithgoogle.com/viewability
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