Viewability in the UK reached an all-time high in the first half of 2018 – with 63.4 per cent of ads meeting the minimum viewability standards set out by the Media Ratings Council (MRC).

According to Integral Ad Science’s (IAS) bi-annual media quality report, viewability for H1 2018 rose 19 per cent from the 53.3 per cent recorded in H2 2017. Meanwhile, ads in view for five seconds increased from 36.9 per cent in H2 2017 to 46 per cent in H1 2018, and ads in view for 15 seconds or more jumped 33 per cent from 20.2 per cent to 26.9 per cent.

The IAS report also found that viewability levels are rising consistently across all environments with 69 per cent of mobile web video, 64.5 per cent of desktop video, 57.6 per cent of mobile web display, and 48.2 per cent of mobile in-app ads all now meeting the minimum viewability standards.

“Understanding the media quality variations across platforms is essential to help advertisers engage their audiences.,” said Nick Morley, EMEA MD at Integral Ad Science. “The H1 2018 Media Quality Report highlights significant and positive progress for the digital advertising industry, with a higher proportion of digital ads not only meeting but exceeding viewability standards.”

Though the industry may feel differently, brand safety risk linked to advertising actually fell in the first half of 2018.

Display ads flagged as serving in environments which are potentially detrimental to brand image fell from 5.8 per cent in H2 2017 to 4.5 per cent in H1 2018, while the risk associated to video ads on desktop declined from 12.3 per cent to 10.6 per cent.

“Thanks to the renewed focus on brand safety, our latest report reflects the proactive measures taken, with a decline in brand risk in the UK,” said Morley. “Looking ahead, we need to be mindful not to focus in on one sole area of media quality, at the detriment of others. We must take a holistic view of media quality and the performance it drives.”