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Trends and Insight in association withSynapse Virtual Production
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What It Means to Be Well-Placed on Mobile

11/06/2020
Advertising & Integrated Production
New York, United States
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Gameloft Advertising Solutions Casey Campbell looks at the importance of viewability on ad spaces

Experienced marketers know advertising is the art of creatively delivering a message. Whether the message is 'buy a product' or 'we exist,' it does not matter as long as people hear it. The importance of an audience can be summed up with a twist on an old question:.

If an ad is displayed in a forest and no one is around to see it, is it viewable?

The importance of viewability is undeniable for any publisher, and for anyone buying ads the answer to that old question is a definitive 'no.' Unfortunately, it doesn’t stop there. A new wrench gets thrown into the equation when you enter the world of digital advertising.


What counts as viewable in the digital ad space?

With a wide variety of screen sizes and web browsers, knowing what exactly is 'on the page' can be very hard to define, even before touching on issues such as fraud circling the industry.

Thankfully, there are high quality standards developing across the industry. Publishers now tell advertisers when ads will appear 'above the fold' and can provide proof of a campaign’s viewability. It’s important to note that those premium placements also come at a premium cost, and that higher price reflects how important it is to make sure an ad is viewable in the digital ad space.

Viewability on mobile is somewhat different to the traditional desktop ad space, starting with how 'on mobile' can mean different things depending on the context.


Mobile Web

A few years ago, mobile web was an afterthought of web development. Mobile-first wasn’t an idea most developers were thinking about at all, but even with the limited technology and lack of general interest, sites tried to integrate ads into the mobile web.

The experience was often cumbersome at best. Fitting full-scale desktop ads on small mobile screens can result in a poor user experience. Fortunately, portable devices now come with a variety of browsers and more and more sites are using a mobile-first approach to their design.

The mobile web is what users access on the internet when they use a browser on their phone or tablet. While the experience has greatly improved over the years, navigating the nearly infinite combinations of software and hardware to generate the same creative across all devices is still incredibly difficult and can sometimes all be broken with an update.


In-App

With the touchscreen revolution and app market explosions, an entirely new digital ad space was created taking advantage of the new touch based apps and the unique interactions they offered. The nearly infinite apps available on the stores all have their own self-contained environment that combines the conveniences of digital with the security of more traditional media.

In contrast to the mobile web the in-app environment is separated from what is normally thought of as the Internet. Every app opens up a mobile experience entirely within itself. In-App means that the environment is built from the ground up to be an immersive experience that perfectly fits on all supported devices.

There is a slightly larger barrier to enter when compared to the open web, because users have to first download the app in order to enter the environment. However, after installation there are enormous benefits to content publishers. The complete control that comes with the environment allows for the meaningful non-intrusive integration of ads.

To add to all of that, by the very nature of how in-app advertising works, the idea of not being well placed does not exist. Everything is full-screen and that means all things that are intended to be displayed will be viewable to users.

The in-app environment is where Gameloft calls home and is a segment of the digital ad space where the company feels very comfortable. Gameloft specializes in utilising the controlled in-app environment to its fullest. Having a long history in mobile gaming specifically also gives Gameloft a deep understand of how best to create experiences that are engaging, fun, and safe.

That specialization in all things in-app allows Gameloft Advertising Solutions to give a definitive answer to the ever present question of viewability in the digital ad space.

If an ad is always viewable, there’s no way for it not to be seen.


Originally posted on Casey Campbell's LinkedIn.

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