Digital marketing success requires businesses to understand key performance indicators (KPIs) because these indicators optimize their campaign performance. The fundamental measurement tool in online advertising comprises ad impressions.
Understanding Ad Impressions
Displaying any advertisement to users produces an ad impression whenever it appears before them one or multiple times. All forms of advertisement on websites social networks, and mobile apps generate impression counts when users look at their banners.
A measure of ad impressions tracks the number of times an advertisement is displayed to viewers but does not provide any evidence of audience reaction. The number of times an advertisement appears in front of users establishes itself as a vital metric to evaluate both reach and advertising visibility.
Types of Ad Impressions
There are three main categories of ad impressions that are differentiated by their recording methods.
- Served Impressions: An ad server counts an impression whenever it delivers ads into a webpage or app, although users might not see them.
- Viewable Impressions: An impression qualified as viewable meets the standards set by the Media Rating Council (MRC) alongside the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) by displaying at least 50% of an ad content visible on screen for one second for display ads or two seconds for video content.
- Ad Requests vs. Ad Fill Impressions: Online requests for ads, known as ad requests, appear alongside the practice of ad fill impressions, which represent actual displayed advertisements.
