Digital ad spending in the United States is expected to reach $60 billion this year, and then it will be on its way to overtaking TV by 2018. But its ascendancy isn’t assured. Up to half of display ads are never seen because consumers don’t notice them. The advertising industry is aware and working with techno-giants to determine how every ad can meet the Media Rating Council’s definition of “viewable”. Right now the definition is that at least 50% of pixels must appear on-screen for at least one second. But is that really sufficient? Not everyone is in agreement about this. There are issues that still require resolution. Managing expectations. Do not expect that all ads will be seen 100% of the time.
Mobile standards are setting the way for design. We need a mobile standard. There are almost as many cell-phone subscriptions (6.8 billion) as there are people on this earth (seven billion)—and it took a little more than 20 years for that to happen. In 2013, there were some 96 cell-phone service subscriptions for every 100 people in the world. Mobile platforms will only be growing, so any digital advertising firm must keep this in consideration this when designing ads.