Facebook wants the internet to know it has changed the way it thinks about ads, charging advertisers only when users actually see an ad, and this rather bold stance could push the rest of ad industry in a similar direction.
Today, with a blog post, Facebook said that it will not charge advertisers if an ad is delivered without being seen. It only deals in "viewed" ad impressions---where users see at least part of an ad---not in mere "served" impressions.
Facebook says it has been counting only viewed impressions for a while now, but today, for the first time, the company explicitly stated that it only uses viewed impressions to measure ad delivery across desktops, mobile devices, and, conceivably, other popular wearables with screens, such as the much-anticipated Apple Watch. It's a stance that differs from the industry norm, according to Rebecca Lieb, an industry analyst with research outfit Altimeter Group.
It’s worth remembering that Facebook is now one of the net's largest ad companies: In addition to selling ads across its own online service---the world's largest social network, with over 1.3 billion users---it now runs Atlas, which helps businesses serve ads across other online properties. For Lieb, the company's stance could put pressure on other major ad networks and media networks to adopt the same practice. "What Facebook does will impact the industry," she says. "Facebook is the proverbial 500-pound gorilla."
Some are already moving in a similar direction, including another 500-pound gorilla: Google, the world’s largest online ad company. The internet giant released research last December showing that an incredible 56.1% of ads on the internet are not seen by humans. In addition to offering a viewability product called Active View, it has let clients buy only viewable impressions on its network for a little more than a year. But Google still formally defines impressions as the number of times an ad has been served, not necessarily seen.
As the industry catches up, Lieb believes, today's announcement could mean Facebook charging more for its ads---though the company has not said it will do so. "It could well be used as a rationale for increasing---or at least maintaining---the price of ads," Lieb explains. "Facebook is saying: ‘Look, we’re not going to charge you unless we know somebody saw it.'"
In any event, she applauds the move. "A guarantee that eyeballs have actually encountered your ad is at least leading the horse to water," Lieb says. "It’s a clear call for more accountability in serving the ads not to pages, but to people."
Update 1:20 PM EST 02/19/2015: This story has been updated to clarify that Google has also let its clients buy only viewable impressions on its ad network for over a year.
