Viewable Impression (CPMV)
Encyclopedia
The Viewable Impression is a metric used to buy web advertising based on CPMV Cost Per Thousand
Views. The first ad server to deliver the metric, called RealVu, was accredited by Media Rating Council on March, 9 2010 and developed by Rich Media Worldwide.
A viewable Impression is measured when the Ad Content
is loaded, rendered and at least 60% of the ad surface area
is within the visible area of a viewer's browser window
on an in focus web page
for at least one second. Click-through is enabled at the moment of the "viewable impression".
A viewable Impression is a new generation metric that was emerged as an alternative to the online impression
metric delivered by first ad servers
developed in the mid-1990s, which count by the analysis of http requests records in a server log and cannot provide information on events fired by a viewer’s browser thus being unable to confirm whether ad content was actually visible to a viewer.
The core of viewable impression methodology reports client (viewer) side activity by using a direct and closed-loop authentication
channel between an ad unit file and a server database
. This method is based on FSDC technology developed in 2001 by Nikolai Mentchoukov and used commercially for the first time on the Terra Lycos portal. US patent No. 7,313,590 for this technique was issued to Rich Media Club by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in December 2007.
Viewable impression technology was developed by Rich Media Worldwide and introduced on Jun 23, 2008 as the beta network CityAds and later in 2009 as the RealVu advertising and media technology platform. The company was founded by Brad Krassner, Nikolai Mentchoukov and Alan Edwards.
that in traditional media meant an impression on a viewer.
This type of advertising metric was meant to resemble Television
and print advertising methods for speculating the cost of an advertisement, with the promise of even more accuracy due to the interactive nature of the Internet eliminating the need for industry accepted approximates such as Nielsen ratings
for television and print is based on the circulation
a publication has.
The value of an ad traditionally was based upon an estimate of how many different people saw or heard the ad. The following are current accepted means of calculating CPM for different mediums:
\frac{CPM = Cost of 1 ad × 1000}{Number of prospects reached} .
CPM = Cost of 1 unit of time (commercial) × 1000 Number of prospects reached by a given program or time period.
With the advent of the Internet, through log file server collecting data it was believed that ad views could be tracked with unprecedented accuracy and “number of different prospects reached” was removed from the equation, and a new CPM equation was created for the internet:
CPM = Cost per ad requested × 1000
However the assumption that an ad requested from an ad server is always visible when the viewer is on the requested page was wrong because of a few technical reasons and the fact that the web page is usually longer than the height of a computer screen. Eventually it became apparent that a large number of ad impressions measured for CPM pricing actually never rendered in the visible area of a viewer’s browser screen.
basis. A related term, effective cost per mille (eCPM), is used to measure the effectiveness of advertising inventory sold (by the publisher) via a CPC
, CPA
, or CPT basis.
Partially to avoid the limitations of server side impression methodology many models emerged that were based on direct response:
The Viewable Impression enables online advertising effectiveness to be analyzed based on stopping power, branding ability and level of engagement – the three key elements that drive purchase consideration and, ultimately, sales. Having no reliable way of measuring actual viewership, web publishers are vulnerable to payment methods that are based on performance-based advertising
such as cost per click and cost per transaction. Since the publisher has no control or input on the demand and ad creative quality of the advertised product, web publishers lose control of their yield, giving away significant inventory to ads that are not clicked.
With the arrival of the Viewable Impression model – Cost per Thousand Views has emerged, quoted in terms of CPMV. This model may eventually become the standard CPM as it measured at the same point (of the view) as television or print.
tags for placement on the web pages or in the third-party ad servers that distribute ads on the website(s) content. These JavaScript tags are placed on a web page and when rendered, employing a "Correlator" (a linear correlation control.) The ad space is then "marked up," an "ad request” (server log impression) is recorded, and the Correlator begins communicating with the web page, browser and ad unit (ad space) embedded in the webpage content. The Correlator can collect additional non-private information from the viewer’s browser, including the viewer’s operating system, browser type and version and a list of other ads that were previously rendered on the page to prevent duplication of ads on the content page. Once any portion of the ad unit (definable), on a viewer's in focus web page, hits the visible area of the browser window a request is sent to an ad content server to deliver an advertisement.
Once the ad content is loaded and rendered the ad unit sends a message directly to the server’s database and an "Ad Rendered" is reported. The Correlator continues to monitor the ad space for each individual ad on the web page and its relation to the browser window dimensions, scrolling position and web page focus, considering if the viewer has scrolled the ad space in or out of the visible area of the browser window, minimized, tabbed away, or opened another browser or application window bringing the web page monitored out of focus or portion of the browser window with the ad space outside of the monitor screen. When 60%, (or other pre-defined area) of the ad content on a web page is within the visible area of the viewer's browser window for one second, a message is sent via Correlator to the server database and a "Viewable Impression" is reported. The Correlator code continues to monitor the web page focus, location of ad unit(s) and the visible area of the browser window, and communicates to the server side database logging the “Time in View” for the ads being delivered on the webpage.
Reasons why an impression may not appear to a viewer associated with fraud overcome:
Limitations related to data analysis and distribution flow with impression methodology overcome:
Cost Per Mille
Cost per mille , also called cost ‰ and cost per thousand , is a commonly used measurement in advertising. Radio, television, newspaper, magazine, out-of-home advertising, and online advertising can be purchased on the basis of what it costs to show the ad to one thousand viewers...
Views. The first ad server to deliver the metric, called RealVu, was accredited by Media Rating Council on March, 9 2010 and developed by Rich Media Worldwide.
A viewable Impression is measured when the Ad Content
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
is loaded, rendered and at least 60% of the ad surface area
Surface area
Surface area is the measure of how much exposed area a solid object has, expressed in square units. Mathematical description of the surface area is considerably more involved than the definition of arc length of a curve. For polyhedra the surface area is the sum of the areas of its faces...
is within the visible area of a viewer's browser window
Web browser
A web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content...
on an in focus web page
Web page
A web page or webpage is a document or information resource that is suitable for the World Wide Web and can be accessed through a web browser and displayed on a monitor or mobile device. This information is usually in HTML or XHTML format, and may provide navigation to other web pages via hypertext...
for at least one second. Click-through is enabled at the moment of the "viewable impression".
A viewable Impression is a new generation metric that was emerged as an alternative to the online impression
Impression (online media)
An impression is a measure ofthe number of times an ad is displayed, whether it is clicked on or not.Each time an ad displays it is counted as one impression....
metric delivered by first ad servers
Ad serving
Ad serving describes the technology and service that places advertisements on web sites. Ad serving technology companies provide software to web sites and advertisers to serve ads, count them, choose the ads that will make the website or advertiser most money, and monitor progress of different...
developed in the mid-1990s, which count by the analysis of http requests records in a server log and cannot provide information on events fired by a viewer’s browser thus being unable to confirm whether ad content was actually visible to a viewer.
The core of viewable impression methodology reports client (viewer) side activity by using a direct and closed-loop authentication
Closed-loop authentication
Closed-loop authentication, as applied to computer network communication, refers to a mechanism whereby one party verifies the purported identity of another party by requiring them to supply a copy of a token transmitted to the canonical or trusted point of contact for that identity...
channel between an ad unit file and a server database
Database
A database is an organized collection of data for one or more purposes, usually in digital form. The data are typically organized to model relevant aspects of reality , in a way that supports processes requiring this information...
. This method is based on FSDC technology developed in 2001 by Nikolai Mentchoukov and used commercially for the first time on the Terra Lycos portal. US patent No. 7,313,590 for this technique was issued to Rich Media Club by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in December 2007.
Viewable impression technology was developed by Rich Media Worldwide and introduced on Jun 23, 2008 as the beta network CityAds and later in 2009 as the RealVu advertising and media technology platform. The company was founded by Brad Krassner, Nikolai Mentchoukov and Alan Edwards.
Overview
With the development of the first ad servers in 1995–1996 the assumption was that a requested ad was always available to the viewer of a requested web page. This allowed for the utilization of the server log file for collection of metadata to deliver a metric called the Online ImpressionImpression (online media)
An impression is a measure ofthe number of times an ad is displayed, whether it is clicked on or not.Each time an ad displays it is counted as one impression....
that in traditional media meant an impression on a viewer.
This type of advertising metric was meant to resemble Television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
and print advertising methods for speculating the cost of an advertisement, with the promise of even more accuracy due to the interactive nature of the Internet eliminating the need for industry accepted approximates such as Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
for television and print is based on the circulation
Circulation
Circulation may refer to:*Circulatory system, a biological organ system whose primary function is to move substances to and from cells*Circulation , the path integral of the fluid velocity around a closed curve...
a publication has.
The value of an ad traditionally was based upon an estimate of how many different people saw or heard the ad. The following are current accepted means of calculating CPM for different mediums:
- 1. CPM for print media (when audience data is available):
\frac{CPM = Cost of 1 ad × 1000}{Number of prospects reached} .
- 2. CPM for broadcast media:
CPM = Cost of 1 unit of time (commercial) × 1000 Number of prospects reached by a given program or time period.
With the advent of the Internet, through log file server collecting data it was believed that ad views could be tracked with unprecedented accuracy and “number of different prospects reached” was removed from the equation, and a new CPM equation was created for the internet:
- 3. CPM for the Internet:
CPM = Cost per ad requested × 1000
However the assumption that an ad requested from an ad server is always visible when the viewer is on the requested page was wrong because of a few technical reasons and the fact that the web page is usually longer than the height of a computer screen. Eventually it became apparent that a large number of ad impressions measured for CPM pricing actually never rendered in the visible area of a viewer’s browser screen.
CMPV (Cost per Thousand Views)
Until 2010 it was very common for large publishers to charge for most of their advertising inventory on a CPM or CPTCPT
CPT or Cpt may stand for:* Captain , a rank or title* CBS Paramount Television, a former TV branch of CBS now known as CBS Television Studios* Certified Penetration Tester, a penetration testing certification offered by the IACRB...
basis. A related term, effective cost per mille (eCPM), is used to measure the effectiveness of advertising inventory sold (by the publisher) via a CPC
CPC
- Organizations :* Confirmation Preperation Class* California Preparatory College* Canadian Parachute Centre* Canadian Paralympic Committee* Center for Plant Conservation* Children's Psychiatric Center, Monmouth County, NJ USA* Climate Prediction Center...
, CPA
Cost Per Action
Cost Per Action or CPA is an online advertising pricing model, where the advertiser pays for each specified action linked to the advertisement....
, or CPT basis.
Partially to avoid the limitations of server side impression methodology many models emerged that were based on direct response:
- CPCCPC- Organizations :* Confirmation Preperation Class* California Preparatory College* Canadian Parachute Centre* Canadian Paralympic Committee* Center for Plant Conservation* Children's Psychiatric Center, Monmouth County, NJ USA* Climate Prediction Center...
- Cost per click Through - CPLCPL-In business:* Cost per Lead, associated with the Pay per Lead Marketing method* NYSE stock symbol of CPFL Energia* Irish resourcing company CPL Resources Pld...
- Cost per lead (lead usually meaning a free registration) - CPSCPS-Australia:*Corporate Protective Services, Sydney based GPS monitoring company*Chatswood Public School, a school in Sydney-Bangladesh:*Criminology and Police Science, CPS is a discipline studied by the department at Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University in Tangail, Bangladesh. Md...
- Cost per sale - dCPM - Dynamic CPM
- CPA – Cost per actionCost Per ActionCost Per Action or CPA is an online advertising pricing model, where the advertiser pays for each specified action linked to the advertisement....
The Viewable Impression enables online advertising effectiveness to be analyzed based on stopping power, branding ability and level of engagement – the three key elements that drive purchase consideration and, ultimately, sales. Having no reliable way of measuring actual viewership, web publishers are vulnerable to payment methods that are based on performance-based advertising
Performance-based advertising
With performance-based advertising, the advertiser pays only for measurable results.With other forms of advertising they pay regardless of results....
such as cost per click and cost per transaction. Since the publisher has no control or input on the demand and ad creative quality of the advertised product, web publishers lose control of their yield, giving away significant inventory to ads that are not clicked.
With the arrival of the Viewable Impression model – Cost per Thousand Views has emerged, quoted in terms of CPMV. This model may eventually become the standard CPM as it measured at the same point (of the view) as television or print.
Viewable Impression Architecture
The Viewable Impression methodology relies on a basic JavaScriptJavaScript
JavaScript is a prototype-based scripting language that is dynamic, weakly typed and has first-class functions. It is a multi-paradigm language, supporting object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles....
tags for placement on the web pages or in the third-party ad servers that distribute ads on the website(s) content. These JavaScript tags are placed on a web page and when rendered, employing a "Correlator" (a linear correlation control.) The ad space is then "marked up," an "ad request” (server log impression) is recorded, and the Correlator begins communicating with the web page, browser and ad unit (ad space) embedded in the webpage content. The Correlator can collect additional non-private information from the viewer’s browser, including the viewer’s operating system, browser type and version and a list of other ads that were previously rendered on the page to prevent duplication of ads on the content page. Once any portion of the ad unit (definable), on a viewer's in focus web page, hits the visible area of the browser window a request is sent to an ad content server to deliver an advertisement.
Once the ad content is loaded and rendered the ad unit sends a message directly to the server’s database and an "Ad Rendered" is reported. The Correlator continues to monitor the ad space for each individual ad on the web page and its relation to the browser window dimensions, scrolling position and web page focus, considering if the viewer has scrolled the ad space in or out of the visible area of the browser window, minimized, tabbed away, or opened another browser or application window bringing the web page monitored out of focus or portion of the browser window with the ad space outside of the monitor screen. When 60%, (or other pre-defined area) of the ad content on a web page is within the visible area of the viewer's browser window for one second, a message is sent via Correlator to the server database and a "Viewable Impression" is reported. The Correlator code continues to monitor the web page focus, location of ad unit(s) and the visible area of the browser window, and communicates to the server side database logging the “Time in View” for the ads being delivered on the webpage.
Viewable Impression Implementation
- The complete viewer's environment is gathered by a client side technology for every viewable impression reported and transmitted back to a server side database.
- Data for each view includes the viewers display resolution, the viewer's browser window dimensions, the dimensions of the web page the ad appeared on, the location of the ad on the page, and the scroll position at the time the viewable impression was recorded.
- This data results in a visual representation of the viewer's environment of each viewable impression reported.
- Then the position of the ad is calculated as is the area of the ad that shown on the screen.
- Also, the view time of the ad is collected by the client (viewer) side engine considering whether the web page the ad resides on is "In focus." (“In-focus” is defined as when a Web page is the primary window open on a user's screen, unobstructed by any other application window. Web page focus can be affected by: minimizing the browser, opening or switching to another browser window or application, opening or switching to another browser window tab, or placing the curser on the browser address bar or other browser button) .
30 limitations of impression methodology which the Viewable Impression overcomes
Reasons why an impression may not appear to a viewer overcome:- 1. The viewer clicks to another web page before the ad loads and renders;
- 2. The ad loads, but in an area of the web page that is not within the viewer's browser window dimensions and scrollingScrollingIn computer graphics, filmmaking, television production, and other kinetic displays, scrolling is sliding text, images or video across a monitor or display. "Scrolling", as such, does not change the layout of the text or pictures, or but incrementally moves the user's view across what is...
position; - 3. The requests made by spiders, crawlers, web-directories, download managers, link checkers, proxy servers, web filtering tools, harvesters, spambots or ; (This isbad botssue may be addressed in part already by a standard ad server following IAB guidelines but more study needs to done to assess whether all non human technology is identified by the current approaches and whether viewable impression technology can improve on those measures. Current assessments suggests improvement with viewable impression methodology);
- 4. The viewer has a particular type of ad blocker installed that could disrupt ad serving but still be initiate the count of an impression. (Some ad blockers block the ad call, some do not. More study should be done in this area);
- 5. The viewer does not have the proper plug-in to render interactive mediaInteractive mediaInteractive media normally refers to products and services on digital computer-based systems which respond to the user’s actions by presenting content such as text, graphics, animation, video, audio, etc.-Terminology:...
installed; - 6. The viewer opens a page in a mobile device that is not configured to show the ad content;
- 7. The viewer minimizes the browser;
- 8. The viewer opens another browser window or another applicationApplication softwareApplication software, also known as an application or an "app", is computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks. Examples include enterprise software, accounting software, office suites, graphics software and media players. Many application programs deal principally with...
; - 9. The viewer opens another browser tab;
- 10. The viewer switches focus to another browser or application;
- 11. The viewer moves the browser window so the ad is outside the display screen area;
- 12. The viewer has multiple home pages set so when the browser is opened, two pages open in two tabs, and an ad resides on the tab that is not in focus;
- 13. In the case of pre-roll video and video advertisingVideo advertisingThe term video advertising could encompass online display adverts such as MPU’s that have video within them, but it is generally accepted that it refers to advertising that occurs on Internet television...
, if the viewer minimizes the browser, tabs away from, or opens another application over the video while the advertisement is playing or moves the browser window so the video is outside the display screen area;
Reasons why an impression may not appear to a viewer associated with fraud overcome:
- 15. The request was made by an (invisible to the viewer) web page re-direct;
- 16. The web publisher places multiple ad displays in layers over each other. The viewer then sees one ad, but impressions are reported for all layered ads;
- 17. The web publisher places an image or shape on a layer overlapping an ad;
- 18. An ad or beacon delivered in an invisible width="0" height="0" IframeIFrameiFrame can be:* I-frames, in video compression; see video compression picture types* iFrame * The HTML iframe element....
; - 19. Mutilated (http poisoning) packets Impression fraud
Limitations related to data analysis and distribution flow with impression methodology overcome:
- 20. Ad rotationAd rotationAd rotation is the practice of showing multiple advertisements in a single location on a web page. Ads may be rotated with each new page load, within a single page load, or both...
visibility lotteryLotteryA lottery is a form of gambling which involves the drawing of lots for a prize.Lottery is outlawed by some governments, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of regulation of lottery by governments...
. Not knowing which ads in rotation were in view for each ad selection means certain ads may never be visible making all the statistic data meaningless. (e.g. 3 Ads are in rotation). For rotation 1 the 1st is in view, 2nd is not, 3rd is in view. Rotation 2; 1st in view, 2nd not, 3rd is not, and in 3rd rotation the 2nd ad is again not in view. All ads are reported as impressions, reach, frequency and all other measurements, but ad 2 was never visible. - 21. Reach and FrequencyReach (advertising)In the application of statistics to advertising and media analysis, reach refers to the total number of different people or households exposed, at least once, to a medium during a given period of time. Reach should not be confused with the number of people who will actually be exposed to and...
measured for ads that are not visible. An ad that is not visible did not reach anyone, making reach and frequency measurements meaningless. - 22. Impressions that are not visible are included in click through rate, making click rate misleading.
- 23. Display of complete brandingBrandThe American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."...
messages and contact information is prohibitive; If a click-through is necessary to measure advertising, adding complete branding messages and contact information in a display ad is prohibitive because then a click through to a website is not necessary. - 24. All parties involved see different impressions reports that are impossible to reconcile.
- 25. Reporting latency. Because server log files must be batched, filtered, and transferred to a database for reporting, significant delays exist before reporting data is available.
- 26. No reported log or visual representation of each unique viewer's environment, including viewer's display resolution, and browser window area and scrolling position;
- 27. No reported log or visual representation of each web page URL an ad is delivered to in addition to the web page dimensions and placement location of the ad on the web page.
- 28. No data reported for the view time of each individual viewable impression.
- 29. CPM value dilution because of an unlimited supply of inventory.
- 30. Redundant ad delivery. (The delivery of the same ads on the same web page.)
See also
- Click-through rateClick-through rateClickthrough rate is a way of measuring the success of an online advertising campaign. The clickthrough rate of an advertisement is defined as the number of clicks on an ad divided by the number of times the ad is shown , expressed as a percentage. For example, if a banner ad is delivered 100...
- Compensation methodsCompensation methodsCompensation methods , Pricing models and business models used for the different types of internet marketing, including affiliate marketing, contextual advertising, search engine marketing and display advertising.-Predominant compensation methods in affiliate marketing:The following models...
- Cost per actionCost Per ActionCost Per Action or CPA is an online advertising pricing model, where the advertiser pays for each specified action linked to the advertisement....
- Cost per click
- Cost per milleCost Per MilleCost per mille , also called cost ‰ and cost per thousand , is a commonly used measurement in advertising. Radio, television, newspaper, magazine, out-of-home advertising, and online advertising can be purchased on the basis of what it costs to show the ad to one thousand viewers...
- Cost per thousand
- Direct-response marketing
- Internet marketingInternet marketingInternet marketing, also known as digital marketing, web marketing, online marketing, search marketing or e-marketing, is referred to as the marketing of products or services over the Internet...
- Pay per clickPay per clickPay per click is an Internet advertising model used to direct traffic to websites, where advertisers pay the publisher when the ad is clicked. With search engines, advertisers typically bid on keyword phrases relevant to their target market...
- Performance-based advertisingPerformance-based advertisingWith performance-based advertising, the advertiser pays only for measurable results.With other forms of advertising they pay regardless of results....
External links
- 1. Marketwire Online Advertising Purchasing Problem Solved: CityAds.net Enables Advertisers to Accurately Track and Quantify Online Ad Results
- 2. Marketwire CityAds.net Challenges Standard Online Ad Revenue Model
- 3. Marketwire RealVu Revolutionizes Internet Advertising Measurement With The Viewable Impression
- 4. UM Blog, by David Cohen “This Could Change Everything”
- 5. MarketingVox "Tuesday's Toolset Watch"
- 6. eMedia Vitals "Death of the Page View"
- 7. MediaPost "How Ad Industry Might Base Impressions On Truth Vs. Fiction"
- 8. Media Rating Council "Accredited Services"