Facebook Will Soon Let Marketers Pay Only When Full Ad Units Are Visible

Facebook will soon give marketers the option to pay only if entire ad units appear on users’ screens, according to a person familiar with the company’s plans.

Facebook currently charges for ads purchased on an impression basis the instant they come into view on users’ devices. For example, marketers are charged immediately when the grey borders around their sponsored posts appear on-screen, even if none of their messaging is actually visible. That hasn’t sat well with some.

Using Facebook’s new ad option, an advertiser would not be charged if a user only scrolls far enough to view 20% or even 90% of an ad.

But in the next few weeks Facebook plans to let advertisers instead pay only when an entire ad passes completely through a user’s screen, or “viewport,” if they wish. Using the new buying feature, an advertiser would not be charged if a user only scrolls far enough to view 20% or even 90% of an ad.

Marketers will likely have to pay a premium for the option, which will apply to both display and video ads. Facebook is still ironing out the details.

The social network has previously argued ads on its platform create value for advertisers the instant they appear on users’ screens, even if 100% of their pixels aren’t viewed.

The move will follow other recent changes Facebook has made to its ad-buying and pricing options, which are designed to give marketers greater choice over how they purchase ads across its service. Last month, the company began offering advertisers an option to pay for video ads only when they are viewed for at least 10 seconds, for example.

Meanwhile, marketers increasingly say they expect to pay only for ads they consider “viewable,” as opposed to those which appear on parts of Web pages or apps people never actually see. The problem is, there’s no industry consensus on what “viewable” actually means.

According to the Media Rating Council, a desktop display ad is viewable if 50% or more of its pixels appear on-screen for at least one continuous second. Meanwhile, media buying agency GroupM says it considers a display ad viewable if 100% of its pixels are in-view for one second.

Facebook’s new option wouldn’t satisfy either of those standards because it doesn’t guarantee at least one second of exposure, but the social network has argued the MRC’s definitions shouldn’t apply to feed-based services such as its own.

“The MRC standard was designed for desktop impressions operating in an IAB ad format kind of way as opposed to in an in-stream or mobile experience,” Facebook’s vice president of marketing science, Brad Smallwood, told CMO Today in February. Facebook is still working with the MRC on accreditation of how it’s counting impressions.

Regardless, the new buying options perhaps demonstrate Facebook’s willingness to bend to meet marketers’ demands.

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Facebook Will Soon Let Marketers Pay Only When Full Ad Units Are Visible