UK ad viewability levels have hit their highest level since the second quarter of 2014, according to the latest quarterly benchmark report from ad verification company Meetrics.
In the final quarter of 2017, the proportion of banner ads served that met minimum viewability guidelines rose from 52% to 56% – the first time levels have risen for three consecutive quarters.
“Despite previous, albeit small, jumps, we’ve been cautious about being too positive but yet another rise, the joint biggest we’ve seen in consecutive quarters, suggests the battle is being won,” said Philipp von Hilgers, Meetrics’ CEO and co-founder. “The jump is particularly impressive as in most markets viewability drops in the final quarter due to higher activity – driven by Christmas – which leads to lower quality placements resulting in lower viewability, so the UK has done very well to override this trend.”
The UK, which traditionally lags far behind the other seven European countries in which Meetrics measures viewability, is starting to look more comparable: it has overtaken both Switzerland (48%), Poland (50%) and Germany (55%). Austria (67%) leads the way followed by Italy (63%), France (62%) and Sweden (61%).
Ads are deemed viewable if the meet the IAB and Media Ratings Council’s recommendation that 50% of the ad is in view for at least one second. The average time a UK ad was in view (but not necessarily viewed) rose by 15% to 24.3 seconds.