IAB offers tactical advice for publishers tackling viewability

To help publishers address the nitty-gritty activities involved in implementing ad viewability, the IAB published a primer with tactical tips and best practices on Tuesday.

The primer focuses on what publishers can do on the ad tech side of the business, including managing relationships with vendors, agencies and advertisers.

While the IAB stresses the importance of creating engaging content on increasing ad viewability (if users aren’t engaged, they won’t scroll down the page), the primer directly addresses three ad delivery levers:

• site redesign to ensure that ads are positioned optimally;
• latency improvements to cut down on long rendering times; and
• ad tech strategy and policy changes to bring tactics in line with best practices.

The guidance covers best practices gleaned from small and large publishers — with varying degrees of ad-tech resources — that have led the way in getting viewability implemented and optimized.

“Now that publishers have achieved great success in driving higher ad viewability levels, it was time for the IAB to compile them into a comprehensive primer for use by the entire industry,” said Sherrill Mane, Senior Vice President of Research, Analytics and Measurement at the IAB. “All publishers, no matter their size or tech resources, should strive to take advantage of the strategies outlined in this guide, as they have been tested in real-world situations by real-world companies that know viewability is key to delivering what advertisers want and to increasing the value of ads on their sites.”