What is ad viewability?

Ad viewability is a metric of determining how visible ads are to readers on your website. For an ad to be considered “viewed,” at least 50% of the ad must be displayed on the reader’s screen for at least one second (for display ads) or two seconds (for video ads).

Advertisers measure viewability data to determine what sites are worth budgeting their ad dollars toward. The higher the viewability on your site, the more likely publishers are to bid for ad placement there. An average viewable impression rate of 60% or higher increases the likelihood of higher-paying ad campaigns to target your website.

Which ads will increase impressions on my website?

Highly viewable ads are placed in spots that readers spend most of their time on a website. To increase ad impressions, a clean layout intermixed with strategic ad placement and fast load times is important in your web page design.

Sticky ads (advertisements that scroll with the page) can make good use of white space while increasing visibility and revenue. Ensure that these ads don’t obscure website content by only placing them where no content appears below the sticky ad. NitroPay has identified that sticky anchor, side rail, and sticky stack ad units perform better on websites.

Ads that load at the very top of the page are often scrolled past by the user before the ad is even finished loading. A simple change like placing the ad just above the fold can increase impressions. Below the fold ad placements typically have low viewability rates.

Publishers can choose to “lazy load” their ad with NitroPay—meaning that the advertisement won’t load until it’s viewable. This is recommended for ads placed below the fold. To help optimize load times, NitroPay also offers a setting that will only refresh an ad when it is visible.

Viewability changes, especially for websites with low viewability rates, can increase your CPM/RPM up to two times its current rate.

NitroPay helps you increase ad viewability

Low viewability rates affect your revenue. With NitroPay, you can monitor your average viewability rates. When you make changes to increase impressions, there won’t be an immediate upswing, as it will take time for advertisers to note that your website viewability rate has increased. 

NitroPay allows publishers to select their own locations for ad placement with the understanding that publishers will need to learn and experiment to determine the best areas of their site for both user experience and viewability. 

However, NitroPay offers a managed service that publishers can opt into. The team at NitroPay will determine placement locations and optimize without the need for the publisher to place any units themselves. This managed service is a premium feature—not all websites will qualify—but reach out if you’re interested in having the NitroPay team take a look at the site.