NEWS20 February 2015

Facebook ad viewability under debate

US — Facebook is working with the Media Rating Council (MRC) on accreditation for its ad viewability as it emerges that it counts views differently to other companies.

According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, Facebook claimed this week that it now only charges for ads across its service that are viewable, and that this has been the case for eight months. But its definition of viewable is under debate.

The MRC defines a viewable display ad as one that is at least 50% visible on screen for a minimum of one second. Facebook defines an ad as viewable the instant any part of it appears on a user’s screen.

Facebook CMO Brad Smallwood has claimed that the MRC standard was designed for desktop impressions operating in an “IAB ad format kind of way” as opposed to an in-stream or mobile experience. Smallwood says Facebook is working with the MRC on accreditation for how it is currently gathering its data.