TubeMogul injects transparency into video ads

By Digital News Asia January 30, 2014

New enhancements allows deeper tracking of views of video ads
Actionable data ensures viewers are actually watching ads

TubeMogul injects transparency into video ads EMERYVILLE, California-based TubeMogul has announced the global rollout of new technology that enables advertisers to see if their digital video ads are actually being viewed.

The technology, which is now built into TubeMogul’s video ad buying software, gives brands and publishers actionable data to ensure that viewers are actually watching ads that are being paid for, the company said in a statement.

TubeMogul Asia managing director Phu Truong (pic) said that in many cases, over half of the digital video ads bought by brands are not actually seen by consumers, which means there is a lot of media wastage.

“The video industry needs to evolve and TubeMogul is taking a leading role by offering an unheard-of level of transparency.

“Advertisers want to avoid placing their digital video ads on poorly placed content that won’t be seen, and video providers need to be held accountable and transparent,” he added.

TubeMogul said it has been active on the issue of video viewability and last year created the OpenVV industry consortium, based around open source technology it created and shared for free.

According to the company, the viewability software is endorsed by 20 organisations, including Nielsen and TRUSTe.

“Transparency is key to the growth of the digital advertising industry,” said Wendy Hogan, chairman of Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) South-East Asia, Singapore Chapter.

“OpenVV technology allows for true metrics to be applied as we move farther away from untrustworthy estimates of impressions. The insights and measurement that OpenVV provides will allow IAB South-East Asia to improve the accuracy of the research and standards that we provide, and therefore support the industry growth overall,” she added.

TubeMogul is a programmatic video platform that has relationships with the major advertising agencies across South-East Asia, ir claimed, adding that it was important to improve viewability metrics in order for the sector to grow.

Matt Harty, general manager Asia-Pacific for Accuen, Omnicom’s programmatic advertising agency, said the announcement by TubeMogul in advancing its viewability initiative is both “timely and welcome.”

“As buyers, we need to know that our ads are in the right place and being seen. Brand-safety tools alone no longer meet our needs,” he said, adding he believed that viewability metrics are the next key evolution in the programmatic video market.

The new enhancements to TubeMogul’s software is now available to all clients, and the reporting tracks the portion of a video ad in view, and how long it is in view for the entire duration of a video; whether a window is active (i.e. a viewer is not in another window or tab); the video player size, whether a video is muted, and how many video ad impressions are not measurable.

TubeMogul’s technology is reportedly designed to tell marketers why an ad is not getting watched. If a site or placement has low viewability, marketers can simply turn it off in real-time. That enables them to isolate and eliminate unviewable digital video ad inventory.

“Marketers need to demand to know where their ads are going and whether they are being watched. Viewability gives them the power to do that,” Truong said.