IAB Recognizes Viewthrough

 

From their annual meeting in Pam Springs, CA, the Internet Advertising Bureau published its Defining Cross-Platform Engagement White Paper. While there are plenty of interesting metrics to be found, we're excited to see a short and sweet definition of viewthrough. Positioned as one of the three categories, Display Viewthrough is included among behavioral metrics.

Definition: Number of Brand site visits that could have been influenced by display media within a particular look-back window.
Measureable Today: Yes, Web Analytics

While this is a small victory for the cause of viewthrough measurement, there is plenty more to do to get the word out about VT. We'd like to advise the IAB that the prior metric included in this section of their study, "Video Completion Viewthrough Rate" ought to get a different name - perhaps "Play-through?" It is bad enough that Viewthrough and Viewability,  are routinely confused but this could actually obfuscate the different kinds of post-impression behavior, e.g. VT Visits, VT Conversions, etc...Also, the following metric listed, "Searched for More Information" could also use a better name - Viewthrough Site Search?

Other considerations:

• VT does not have to be at a branded site although this is most likely, e.g. related microsites
• Any high-value task that can be measured in a Web analytics platform could have a VT source
• Look-back windows are usually set by the ad server not Web analytics systems
• Like the "could have been influenced" but no mention of how to understand incrementality

Scroll down to Page 10 of the Defining Cross-Platform Engagement White Paper, to read it for yourself.

DAA Viewthrough Definition Project Seeks Participants

 

Good news, the Viewthrough Measurement Consortium and the Digital Analytics Association are partnering. We're pleased to be working with the DAA Standards Committee, who have taken up the viewthrough cause - below is their call for participants.


The viewthrough standardization proposal seeks to establish a foundational definition and inclusion in the DAA glossary. Although this metric is measured by many analytics, research, ad server and ad network platforms, it is little known and understood in comparison to clickthrough. The emerging viewable ad impression while related, is more about ad position and delivery. Viewthrough is about latent ad response and is most easily captured by advertiser-side site analytics like Omniture and CoreMetrics. Even Facebook is offering up their conversion tracking pixel with hopes of leveraging this measure as a means to understand the silent majority of people that do not click on display ads but do respond. 

This project falls under marketing definitions, a new area for the Standards Committee and one with substantial potential as we broaden our standards role. The standards definition project is in the proposal stage and is seeking additional members to set scope and provide input.

Sample Viewthrough Report

If you’d like to participate in the viewthrough project, please contact Domenico Tassone at dtassone (AT) viewthrough DOT org.

For more information about the DAA Standards Committee or to contact the Co-Chairs, reach out to Anna Long and Darrin Wood .

Calling All Analytics Vendors and Ad Networks

There has been an incredible amount of interest and enthusiasm the Viewthrough.org effort from across the ad technology stack, evolving into a real grass-roots Viewthrough Measurement Consortium. Many thanks to all those who have taken the time to share their considerable insights, ideas and candid feedback.

LEARNINGS SO FAR
Below are some key learnings gathered from throughout this process:

• Nobody is happy about clickthrough measurement and its inherent biases
• With the DAA and IAB doing their own thing and the emergence of ad viewability as the latest bright shiny object, viewthrough measurement continues to be looked over
• Most everyone wants better viewthrough measurement but are unsure how to push this forward on their own
• Many digital advertising companies across the ad tech stack are already measuring viewthrough but don't necessarily label it viewthrough or they are not breaking it out in their reports today.  
• Reasons include that it is confusing to clients/agencies that are still focused on last-click attribution; also, that there is that lack of standard definitions, i.e. mention viewthrough and get ready to teach.

It is apparent that analytics and advertising vendors are seeking a meaningful way to report passive display media response. It should be a concern to everyone that many ad networks do not get credit for viewthrough performance today, itself a by-product of slimy performance networks and cookie-stuffing. While the bigger Viewthrough.org strategy evolves (advocacy, research, standards, best practices), there is a definitely tangible step that is low-cost and be taken today.

NEXT STEP: VIEWTHROUGH SCORECARD
Vendors that are already reporting on passive post-exposure response to display media (beyond clickthroughs) ought to consider letting the industry know.Whether it is raw viewthrough visits, a viewthrough rate or viewthrough conversions, now is the time and this is the place.

Below is the current list of vendors known to the Viewthrough Measurement Consortium that provide analytics/reports that specifically containing viewthrough performance:




POST COMMENTS OR SEND FEEDBACK FOR UPDATES.

Proposed Definition of an Ad Viewthrough

Viewthrough (view-through) is a measure of the passive but self-directed response from paid media (banner, rich media, video or audio). For starters:

• Scope
• Post-impression viewthrough follows from one or more ad exposures where there was no click event
• Although the focus here is on display media, viewthrough or passive response could come from email, affiliate advertising, online PR and "dark" social media
• Apart from Google's self-serving studies, no independent research validates the notion of a paid search viewthrough
• Relation to Clickthrough
• Distinguished from post-click visitation or conversion
• Measurement
• Can be a success metric like a conversion, high-value task or a site visit
• Can be measured by a brand on its' own Web properties through site analytics
• Can be measured more broadly (competitor/peer site visitation, search, etc...) through panel-based research
• May be subject to attribution rules, such as first touch, last touch, equal touch or staistically derived techniques
• Time
  • Is subject to a lookback and lookahead window that is configured by the ad server
• Viewthrough impact decays over time from the initial ad exposure
• Calculation
• The VTR (viewthrough rate) is calculated as # of viewthrough / # of impressions (viewed impressions preferably)
• Impressions should be based on "viewed" or "viewable" for most accurate measurement
• In-flight viewthrough are observed during a live ad campaign, while the post-flight viewthrough "vapor-trail" can be observed when the campaign ends or is paused

If you have feedback, please reach out or comment below!

Calls for Viewthrough, Proper Display Attribution Growing

As the digital media and marketing business continues to evolve the interest in passive response from digital display (banners, video and non-search mobile) is growing. Although the banner is almost 20 years old now (born c. 1995) the legacy obsession with click-based response measurement and simplistic attribution is only now beginning to collapse thanks to new tools and better methodologies.


Bravo...it's about time.

Dax Herman who heads-up search-targeted display ad network Chango recently put together an elaborate white paper,  Viewthrough Attribution Exposed: What last Touch Isn't Telling You. I had the opportunity to work with Chango in an ecommerce setting over the past year and found their interest in and approach to meaningful analytics for their near (but not quite) bottom of the funnel ad media refreshing and collaborative.

Recently, Dax asked for my POV on viewthrough measurement which you'll find a snippet of in the white paper; this also led to a recent post, here at the Tip of the Spear Blog: Viewthrough Incrementality Testing. More broadly, we're planning to collaborate with other digital advertising leaders to further viewthrough measurement...it won't be easy but it needs to happen.

Viewthrough.org Coalition
If you or your company has an interest in viewthrough measurement and attribution please get in touch to learn more about collaborating on the Viewthrough.org effort; as part of this effort we're looking to work with leading measurement technologies, digital marketers and especially the DAA/IAB to standardize the definition of viewthrough.