ComScore: You’re free to measure viewability…literally

ComScore is offering up a free service to digital-media buyers and sellers around the globe, allowing them to gauge the extent to which video, mobile and display ads are actually being viewed.  

The tool behind it, comScore Viewability, will be made available to global clients, and reportedly anyone else who wants it, beginning this summer.

The move follows recent calls from advertisers such as P&G’s Marc Pritchard for more trust and transparency in the digital ad industry, something ComScore says it wants to promote.

At the same time, the media measurement firm says the industry fixation with viewability is misplaced, since it’s only a part of gauging what makes an ad effective.

“Viewability is critical, but for too long it has dominated industry discussion at the expense of other metrics that also really matter,” said Dan Hess, comScore’s executive vice president of products in a release. “We think it’s time to make viewability a table stake for digital advertising, and move the market forward to a broader realm of more meaningful ad measurement across platforms.”

In doing so, comScore is also challenging existing paid viewability measurement services from competitors like IAS, Sizmek, AppNexus and Moat.

ComScore says its free tool is not yet accredited but uses the same measurement tag and technology as its validated Campaign Essentials tool for audience delivery, which is accredited by the Media Rating Council (MRC).

The release quotes endorsements from GroupM, 4As and the IAB’s executive business advisor for Europe, Alison Fennah who said  “offering free viewability measurement will allow for more comprehensive reporting and help to close the gaps where viewability is not currently reported  - thus getting us one step closer to our industry goal of making digital measurement comparable to that of other media.”