Active View CPM Brings Change To Display Advertising
The most common display advertising cost structure is and always has been the CPM model, or cost-per-thousand impressions. CPM is a semi-standard option that has been available across the full gamut of advertising options for years and years. In fact, CPM stems all the way back to the olden days of print ads. Remember those? Oh, good… me neither.
The goal of the CPM advertising model is a very simple one at its root. The advertiser seeks to expand advertising reach and ensure that ads have been viewed by as many users as possible. Seems simple enough, and, conceptually, it’s a sound strategy. Unfortunately, the cold, hard truth is that there has always been one unavoidable problem: measurability.
No worries though. We can kiss this problem goodbye with the advent of Active View CPM, because this bidding model guarantees that your ads are seen. Display advertisers everywhere, REJOICE!
What Is Active View CPM?
It’s actually quite simple. Google AdWords Active View CPM measures and charges an account only when impressions are deemed “viewable”. Viewable impressions are recorded when at least 50% of your ad is visible on a user’s screen for at least one second or longer. This means advertisers will now actually know when their ads have been seen by an individual. This knowledge is incredibly insightful and can help make your display ads much more effective.
Historically, it has not been possible to effectively gauge how many eyes actually viewed your ad because you were charged if an ad was simply was loaded on a page and not necessarily if a user actually saw the ad. That means, if you are using “regular CPM” bidding, you are being charged for impressions that appear well below the page fold. These impressions aren’t actually ever seen by anyone. This is a very ineffective use of advertising budget.
Cue music: The Price Is Wrong
Active View CPM Setup & Reporting
This is an easy one, too. All advertisers are eligible and can enable Active View CPM bidding with a quick click. Visit your display campaigns’ settings tab, view the bid options, and check the Active View CPM box. Just like that, you’re opted in and you can now reap the benefits of this truly awesome bidding option.
As if that wasn’t enough there’s also a complete set of Active View metrics that are available. Click on the columns button in your Campaign, Ad Groups, or within any level of you Display Network reports. Then click on the Performance (Active View) section and add the metrics you’d like to report on. Viewable impressions, viewable CTR, and viewable average CPM are the available options.
Below is an example of a test that I began just a few short weeks ago. The results are already promising. The biggest surprise here is the discrepancy between actual impressions and viewable impressions – sometimes the difference is over two times greater between the two. You can also see how viewable CTR and average CPM are both affected as a result. Take a look:
This data provides two main takeaways:
- Simply understanding the sheer number of impressions that are NOT viewable and would otherwise be accumulating spend
- Understanding how my ads are performing when they are viewable.
From here I can now optimize my bids for position and active view CTR on particular placements and keywords. This is something I wouldn’t have been able to do in the past and would be mostly guesswork.
If display campaigns are a primary focus of your AdWords efforts, then stop paying for impressions that aren’t seen! Opt into Active View CPM today to boost your GDN campaigns’ visibility and help generate more insightful data.
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Have you tried Active View CPM yet? What results have you seen?
