Real visibility vs. impressions: the data that distorts your campaigns

An impression does not always mean real impact. In paid campaigns, in both display and social media environments, a significant portion of the ads served is not effectively visualised by the user. This difference between total and viewable impressions directly affects key KPIs, actual cost per conversion and ROI.

What is a visible print?

According to the IAB standard, an advertisement is considered to be visible when at least 50% of its surface remains on the screen for 1 second (display) o 2 seconds (video). Anything below this threshold is considered as a non-effective impact, even if it counts as an impression in the reports.

Visibility data per platform (2023-2025)

The following study is based on active campaigns from different sectors managed by eXprimeNet over the last two years:

Platform	Estimated visibility (%)	Remarks
Google Display (GDN)	44% - 61%	Rotating locations, low visual attention
YouTube (video)	70% - 82%	Better in long videos; worse in short formats
Meta (Facebook/Instagram)	51% - 66%	Highest in feed, lowest in Reels and Audience Network
TikTok Ads	68% - 80%	High initial impact, rapid visual saturation
LinkedIn Ads	58% - 72%	Increased desktop visibility
Open programming	30% - 48%	Highly variable if location is not controlled

Why is it so important?

Visibility not only influences the quality of an advertising impact, but also everything that happens afterwards. An unseen impression:

Does not generate valid clicks
Does not contribute to brand recall
Can misrepresent attribution data

Economic impact in real campaigns

    Example: a campaign with €20,000/month in display/video spend with a 50% effective viewability implies a potential loss of up to €10,000 per month.
  

In one year, that loss translates into more than 120,000 of ineffective investment. Improving visibility by 20% can reduce the cost per conversion by 14% to 22%.

How to improve visibility in paid campaigns

Exclude locations with low viewability, especially in programmatic.
Prefer vertical, mobile-first formats
Control frequency to avoid saturation
Use longer videos for discovery and shorter videos for retargeting.

Very Simple. Very Results.