Myth: Add a viewability vendor (IAS, DV) and you'll know your native ads are seen.

Myth: Add a viewability vendor (IAS, DV) and you'll know your native ads are seen.

Wrong about what it proves. Viewability tools confirm pixels entered the viewport for a second. That is not attention — that's geometry. A native widget can be 100% "viewable" at the bottom of an article nobody read past paragraph one.

The better signal is engaged time and scroll depth on your own prelander, plus the click-to-conversion ratio. Those measure whether a human cared, not whether a div was technically on-screen.

When viewability vendors are worth it:
— Big brand spend where you need a third-party number for the deck.

When they're theater:
— Performance buying, where "70% viewable" tells you nothing about why CPA is climbing.

Viewability measures the easiest-to-game thing in the chain. Supposedly it's quality assurance. It's a reassuring number, sold by the people reassured by it.