NewsBeat

16 NewsBeat January 2018 As mobile advertising becomes more popular, viewability becomes more important obile advertising is booming. We have all seen the growth figures driving the market, and I have written about how digital is being driven forward thanks to mobile as a channel. However, with such fast growth, it is important to ensure quality is maintained. And the lessons we learned with digital are transferred across to mobile. In digital display, the advertising industry has been affected by ad fraud and lack of viewable impressions, which means the industry is affected by wasted ad spend. According to recent research from eMarketer, Global Digital ad spending (including mobile) will top US$335 billion and represent more than M 46% of total media ad investment by 2020, which highlights the importance of viewability as a consideration for brands and advertisers. Unfortunately, it seems recent trends are showing that the increase in mobile ad spend is bringing down the viewability figures across the digital marketplace. Given the way consumers use mobile — with a smaller screen and more scrolling — ads will potentially not be in view. This means in-app inventory where ads are not in viewable placements may not meet their full potential in delivering an advertiser's message. By LORNA WHITE The importance of quality inventory has never been more important to ensure these placements are not wasting advertisers' investments. Some of the difficulty in tracking viewability and blocking fraudulent inventory also comes from the in-app environment, where third-party vendors often aren't integrated with the placements. As an industry, we must work to find solutions for this. Brands and advertisers can create app whitelists to ensure more relevant placements and quality inventory, but they should be aware this could affect the scale achieved with their campaigns. In summary, it's important advertisers consider viewability and ad fraud across their whole digital campaign, and they shouldn't treat mobile in a silo. We must ensure the quality of digital continues to be built upon so we maintain digital as a reputable channel to achieve marketing goals. Lorna White is a senior planner at MediaCom in London, United Kingdom. She can be reached at Lorna.White@mediacom.com or @lornyw. — Reprinted from inma (International News Media Association) An increasing number of brands are spending money on mobile advertising, but viewability needs to be a priority.

• Cover