Latest Media Ratings Council Ad Impression News

By Ismail Abraham


Businesses that are constantly advertising on the web using banner images, or those that are moving into video advertising, maybe looking at significant changes in regard to the duration that ads must be viewed by the general public in order to be counted as impressions. For the people surfing on the web, this may not dramatically affect their ability to find the information or products they are looking for. It simply means that ads must be delivered for a consistent 1 to 2 second period of time to be properly counted, which is more impactful on businesses that it is someone surfing the web.



Essentially, MRC has decided that ad metrics, specifically the impression metric, needs to change. Innovations Task Force in collaboration with MRC is looking at cross industry input as a result of substantial research in this field. They are changing the guidelines that have been in place for many years in regard to what an impression actually means.

There simply asking that half of the pixels for both images and videos be viewed for one and two seconds, respectively. This continuous viewing is thought to not only provide a better way of determining whether an impression counts in the advertising world, but may have a definite impact on whether or not the ads are going to help motivate potential customers to click through to the website that is advertised.

For instance, one second of continuous display is the proposed change for all ads that are graphical. Video ads should be displayed for 2 seconds in order to be appropriately counted. This shift will augment the way that we see ads that are displayed, and how long they must be viewed in order to be actually considered an impression.

They believe that it will improve the digital landscape of online advertising when using ads and videos. The discrepancies that have been bantered about for many years are now set to be reconciled. These standardized measurements in regard to impression counts are going to change dramatically.

If this duration is not met, it will not be considered an impression, something that will dramatically change the way people view these ads, and also how they are counted. The measurement guidelines for ad impressions that are viewable have been presented, and the public can comment on these changes. The gating period is over, with MRC claiming a milestone has been made in regard to changing the digital landscape of advertising.




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