Google rolled out a major change to AdWords this week by introducing CPM bidding by viewable impressions. This change was first noticed by Kim Clinkunbroomer of Philly Marketing Labs.
Rather than charging advertisers on the traditional model of served impressions, this change to CPM bidding means that advertisers will be charged based on ad impressions that can actually be viewed in-screen by users. All campaigns running on the Google Display Network will now have this option.
Ads are deemed viewable by Google’s Active View reporting. Previously advertisers were charged based on whether or not their ad was “served,” which wouldn’t necessarily indicate it was viewed by the end user.
This is huge for advertisers, as comScore recently reported that 31 percent of online ads go unseen by users.
Google’s Active View technology will now also include metrics reporting for advertisers which will track viewable impressions, viewable click-through rate and Active View average CPM.
Surprisingly, Google has made little mention of this change themselves. The move by Google towards having advertisers pay by viewable impressions will eventually become standard industry-wide.
In June it was reported by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) that marketers should be prepared to buy digital media based on viewability by the end of this year:
The Media Rating Council (MRC) expects to lift its Viewable Impression Advisory by the end of this year, and at that time marketers will eagerly start buying digital media on viewable metrics. Publishers and agencies, we hope you’re ready.
With that being said, are you ready for this change to CPM bidding? Do you think it should become the industry standard sooner rather than later? Let me know what you think in the comments section.
