Sharethrough Launches Viewability On All Native Ad Impressions

Sharethrough, which enables advertisers to distribute their content via dynamical native ad units on publisher sites, announced today that all ad impressions served through its ad exchange will be viewable.

Advertisers can now buy ads on a  viewable cost per thousand impressions (vCPM) or continue to buy on a cost per engagement (CPE) basis. The company is using proprietary technology to measure viewability. It adheres to the IAB standards of viewability in which at least 50 percent of an ad must appear on screen for more than one second. Sharethrough says it monitors the corners of the screen and the corners of the ad using built-in browser JavaScript properties.

Sharethrough’s move to measure and sell impressions on viewability is likely a first for in-feed native advertising. Brand advertisers such as Pepsi, Intel and Nestle are able to repurpose their content from social platforms like Vine, YouTube, Pinterest and Tumbler and distribute it through in-stream ads on Sharethrough’s ad exchange which includes publishers like Forbes, People, Politico and Saveur.

Advertisers have been pushing for viewability on display ads — as well as video — to bring more transparency and accountability to the digital advertising ecosystem. A comScore study of a dozen major brands found that 31 percent of online ads are never actually seen by users — and that is on the low end of the estimates.  The Viewability metric was developed to give advertisers the guarantee that impressions are seen by the intended users — it’s also seen as a boon for publishers through higher CPMs.

“We are committed to helping our advertising partners drive brand affinity, and guaranteeing viewability is an important factor for success,” said Lauren Wray, VP of Sales at Sharethrough. “We believe this pricing model and unmatched level of transparency will provide our partners with a more effective and efficient content marketing distribution solution.”