Millennial Media Introduces 100 per cent Viewability Guarantee

Michael Barrett, CEO and president of Millennial Media
Michael Barrett, CEO and president of Millennial Media

Mobile ad marketplace Millennial Media is introducing a 100 per cent viewability guarantee for in-app mobile ad campaigns, hoping to position itself as the most trusted source of mobile impressions.

Ad quality has been an increasing concern over the last few years, with brand safety, fraud and viewability all key topics for marketers looking to protect the brands they work with, and ensure they are not paying for ads that consumers are not seeing.

The IAB recently released a State of Viewability report, highlighting the growing shift towards making digital advertising more accountable and comparable to other media channels when it comes to KPIs.

“The mobile ad ecosystem is desperately seeking guidelines around viewability,” said Michael Barrett, president and CEO at Millennial Media, and a board member of the IAB. “Today, we are choosing the highest standard possible by offering a 100 per cent in-app viewability guarantee.

“We have selected Integral Ad Science as our measurement partner because they are the only at-scale vendor that can currently measure in-app viewability. We will continue to partner closely with the MRC, IAB and the mobile ad ecosystem to define industry-wide standards around viewability. We are committed to becoming the largest mobile marketplace that provides 100 per cent viewable, brand safe and fraud free impressions.”

Millennial Media will ensure viewability by delivering campaigns only to audited sites and placements that can ensure 100 per cent of pixels are in-view when the ad is served, with Integral Ad Science acting to verify the length of time the ad is in-view.

This will be achieved by limiting delivery to static banner placements at the top or bottom of the screen, with interstitials only loading if they are in-view. Ads will be served using an Integral Ad Science pixel via Millennials SDK, and MRAID (Mobile Rich Media Ad Interface Definitions) will be used to determine the length of time the ad is in-view.

In addition, clients who have signed up for the new viewability offer will only pay for ads where 100 per cent of the ad is in-view for at least one second, ensuring that money is not wasted on ads served off-screen.

“Mobile has quickly become the first screen and most accessed device. As such, viewability in mobile is more important than ever,” said Scott Knoll, president and CEO of Integral Ad Science. “We leverage the most advanced science and technology to enable our clients to understand the quality of their media. Millennial Media is a trusted player in mobile and brings tremendous knowledge and expertise to this effort.”