Google has started to roll out viewability reporting for video campaigns on DoubleClick.

This means advertisers will be able to see, for the first time, whether video ads on digital channels were actually seen by users – that is, more than half of the unit being on-screen for two seconds or longer.

Google plans to introduce the ability to target viewable impressions in DoubleClick, and to buy only viewable impressions across the Google Display Network, in the coming months. Reporting on the audibility for video ads, and the total amount of time an ad was viewable for, is also in the pipeline for later this year.

“With the confidence that their ads can be seen by a real person, marketers can then go on to strive for – and measure – what really matters, impact and engagement,” said Neal Mohan, VP of video & display advertising at Google. “Along with our commitment to viewability, we’ll continue our investments in other ways to help marketers drive engagement, like our TrueView format (where advertisers only pay when consumers engage) and Brand Lift surveys, which help marketers measure the impact of their campaigns on their branding goals.”

Google also announced that it has signed up over 30 broadcaster and publisher brands to Google Partner Select, the premium video marketplace it launched in June. These brands, which include CBS Interactive, Fox News, Discovery, Rolling Stone and Mens Fitness, will make their inventory exclusive to Partner Select.

In early tests, Google reports that it has seen video ad completion rates of 74 per cent, with advertisers including BMW, Allstate and Netflix.