In an already complex web of countless ad tech players in a long programmatic chain, ad measurement and attribution partners are thrown into the fray. Although they introduce another level of complexity, they are necessary for advertisers/publishers to ensure that quality ads are served. There are many aspects about ad placement that can be measured, including but not limited to viewability, brand safety, and fraud. Brands want to ensure that their ad spend is being used in an effective manner and they turn to the ad measurement/attribution partners to do so.
Ad Measurement Partners
These partners measure the performance of the ad. It measures things like fraud, brand safety, viewability, etc.
- Integral Ad Science (IAS)
- Doubleverify (DV)
- MOAT
Multi Touch Attribution (MTA)
MTA calculates the effectiveness of each ad in getting the user to make a purchase, and it weights each point (touch) in the ad exposure process to how important it was in procuring the sale. For example, imagine you have been shown an ad for a particular shoe available at Foot Locker. You then browse the Foot Locker site but don’t buy right then. You are then shown another ad later, this time containing a coupon, and you decide to make the purchase. After you make the purchase, the ad attribution partners would determine how important each ad was in getting you to buy the shoes.
Other Attribution Models (Not as effective)
First Touch
100%>0>0>0
The first ad exposure gets 100% of the credit. This completely ignores all later points in the ad exposure chain and is not effective.
Last Touch
0>0>0>100%
The last ad exposure gets 100% of the credit. This completely ignores all earlier points in the ad exposure chain and is not effective.
Linear
25%>25%>25%>25%
All ad exposures get an equal amount of credit. Although this simplifies attribution, it is the most accurate as mostly likely one part of the ad exposure chain was more effective than another.
Time Decay
5%>20%>25%>50%
The closer an ad exposure is to the purchase time the more credit that it receives. This is a more accurate estimation as consumers are more likely to respond to more recent ads.
Ad Attribution Partners
Ad attribution partners can typically match to the DMP at the tag/pixel level. This usually happens via a cookie sync with the attribution partner’s tag.
- Adjust
- Adways
- AppsFlyer
- CyberZ
- Kochava
- Singular
- Tune
Malicious Ads/Malware Security
- GeoEdge
- TheMediaTrust
Ad Quality Standards Associations
These associations present best practices and benchmarks around quality for the industry to refer to.
- Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB)
- Media Rating Council (MRC)
Ad Tech Benchmarks
MRC In-View Requirements (For both desktop and mobile)
- 50% of display ad pixels are in view for at least 1 second
- 50% of video ad pixels are in view for at least 2 seconds
CTR Benchmarks for Display Ads
Viewability Benchmarks for Display Ads
Video Benchmarks
- Average VCR: 81% (on all video impressions)
- Average CTR: 0.26%
- Average Time Spent
- 12s on 15s video ads
- 25s on 30s video ads
- 62% viewability
- Invalid Traffic Rate (IVT): 3.7%
Sources
- https://www.digilant.com/programmatic-buying-101-why-marketers-are-talking-about-attribution/
- http://www.knowonlineadvertising.com/facts-about-online-advertising/sharing-knowledge/ad-verification/list-of-ad-verification-companies/
- https://adexchanger.com/data-driven-thinking/really-matters-ad-tech/
- https://digiday.com/marketing/ad-measurement-thriving/
- http://mediaratingcouncil.org/MRC%20Digital%20Audience-Based%20Measurement%20Standards%20Final%201.0.pdf
- https://segment.com/academy/collecting-data/an-introduction-to-multi-touch-attribution/
- https://www.smartinsights.com/internet-advertising/internet-advertising-analytics/display-advertising-clickthrough-rates/
- https://www.iab.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/extreme-reach-video-benchmarks-2018q1.0079873a72f3.pdf
- https://www.appnexus.com/sites/default/files/whitepapers/guide-2018stats_2.pdf
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