AdSafe Media Debuts New Engagement Quality Ratings

NEW YORK, Sept. 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- AdSafe Media, the industry leader in online brand protection, ad verification and campaign performance data, announced today the debut of the AdSafe Engagement Quality Ratings. These new ratings work within AdSafe's existing protection and verification products but are also designed to enhance the RTB process, pre-bid.  They inform advertisers and DSPs in real-time of the probability of their ad being in view to a user, as well as the level of user engagement and the amount of time in view.  

The ability to verify whether a user engages with an ad directly increases the accuracy of determining overall campaign effectiveness. With the addition of Engagement Quality Ratings to its existing capabilities, AdSafe provides the most comprehensive suite of protection, verification and performance data solutions available, while now further enabling advertisers to easily direct their ads to more relevant online environments, driving greater ROI.

Information around whether ads are viewed is quickly becoming even more valuable than metrics on the specifics of ad location.  Ads served in what are considered premium, above the fold placements, may not necessarily be viewed by a user depending on device type or browser settings. Alternatively, ads considered below the fold may in fact be viewed in a more contextually relevant environment - given a specific page's content and layout and how far down a page a user scrolls.  With this engagement model in mind, AdSafe's new ratings metrics take into consideration web browsers, monitor sizes, screen resolutions, ad size, the placement on the page the ad is being served to, the amount of time a user spends on a page and the likelihood a user will scroll until the ad is view.

This new data is particularly valuable given certain publisher metrics and user engagement trends AdSafe is observing in the industry.  For example:

• Research shows that vertical publisher content sites tend to have ads in view the longest, followed by news sites.
• On average, ads are in view twice as long on media sites than on news sites and about 40 times as long on media sites than on various other types of sites – such as user generated content.  
• In certain user generated content environments with very high impression counts, ads are in view, on average, for significantly shorter time periods.  

Within the exchange environment, knowing this can help inform both buyer's bidding decisions and sellers pricing models.

Furthermore, with some publishers evaluated, ads in premium, above the fold locations often do not load before the user scrolls down – leaving them out of view.  With others publishers, certain ads are less likely in-view on page load (on average, as little as 35% of the time) – but are likely still viewed (up to 75% of the time) upon the user scrolling.  In front of an engaged user, the latter placement is still valuable – in fact often more valuable than the former.

Using the new engagement quality ratings, AdSafe customers will be able to assure their client's ads are more likely seen, and more highly engaged with, by their target audience.

"Our focus has always been to make it easy to ensure preventative brand protection, as well as ad delivery and compliance, as accurately and transparently as possible.  Now coupling that with our engagement quality data enables our clients to buy media more effectively and to increase ROI on every dollar spent on display advertising, whether the goal is to drive immediate performance or to build a brand online," said Scott Knoll, CEO, AdSafe Media. "Utilizing our best-in-breed technology, we provide the most accurate data around brand safety and user engagement in the industry.  This data empowers both the buy and sell side of the digital landscape, driving improved performance for all parties."

AdSafe will continue to roll out new ratings and tools to further inform the digital advertising industry and propel ad technology forwards in the coming months.

About AdSafe Media

AdSafe Media is the digital advertising industry's recognized leader in brand protection, ad verification and campaign performance data. Its Content Rating System is the only solution that scores and evaluates the brand safety and context of web pages on the individual page level.  Utilizing these ratings, AdSafe's Firewall protects advertiser's brands from appearing on pages that do not conform to brand guidelines. AdSafe's suite of Advertiser, Network and Platform solutions enable real-time, actionable campaign control and optimization for brands, agencies, networks, exchanges and trading platforms.  AdSafe's products work across the digital environment, driving increased performance and profits for its partners on both the buy and sell side. AdSafe is headquartered in New York City with operations in San Francisco and London. For more information visit www.AdSafeMedia.com or follow @AdSafe on Twitter. 

Harrison Wise, PH: 1-212-777-3235, Email: [email protected]

SOURCE AdSafe Media