đź’Ą The Hidden Truth Behind Ad Metrics: Why Viewable Impressions Matter
Understanding the difference between Impressions and Viewable Impressions can significantly impact how you think about optimizing your ads.
Here's a breakdown of each term and why it matters:
â—Ź Impressions:
Recorded every time an ad is displayed regardless of whether the user saw the ad on screen or not. For example, on Amazon, an ad gets an impression when it's loaded on the page, even if the user doesn't see it.
â—Ź Viewable Impressions:
According to the Media Rating Council (MRC), a viewable impression occurs when at least 50% of an ad's pixels are visible on screen for at least one second (two seconds for video ads).
Interestingly, Click-Through Rates (CTR) on Sponsored Ads and DSP are based on impressions, not viewable impressions.
The difference is significant. As shown in the image, the CTR reported in the advertising console is 0.58%, while the CTR based on viewable impressions is 3.95%—a 580x difference.
đź“Ł Let's be real:
when we talk about the influence of ads on customer decisions, we don’t talk about ads that customers don’t see.
They get influenced by what they see, not what they don’t see. So why would we base our performance metrics and decisions on what customers didn’t see?
Understanding this concept can change the way you approach A/B testing, ad optimization, and revisiting the AMC path to conversion.
There's much more to explore on this topic, but let's save it for future posts.
Do you think it matters to calculate CTR differently? Share your thoughts below!
