The World Media Group (WMG), a strategic alliance of ten of the world’s leading premium media brands, was conscious of the growing demand from advertisers for better viewability performance. In addition, in an era of fake news, it wanted to explore whether ads seen on trusted media websites were viewed more attentively by consumers.
It therefore commissioned analysis to assess the overall performance of the inventory of WMG brands during Q3 2016.
The overall aim of the analysis was to identify whether digital ad campaigns that appear in respected premium media brands – that invest in both quality journalism and quality campaign delivery -outperform industry benchmarks. The independent study was carried out by SaaS analytics and measurement company Moat.
The results revealed that ad campaigns across the WMG inventory outperformed every single benchmark for that time period. Attention and viewability rates saw lifts up to 92% in some instances.
Matt McAllester (pictured above), Global Editor-in-Chief of Newsweek, a member of the WMG, explains, “Readers across all World Media Group titles have always trusted, valued and engaged with the high quality content we provide – and that trust is more important than ever when ‘fake news’ is, itself, making the headlines. The analysis results have validated the link between well written, properly researched journalism and the ‘halo effect’ brands experience when their ads are seen alongside it.”
The WMG brands comprise The Washington Post, Bloomberg Media, The Economist, Forbes, Fortune, National Geographic, Newsweek, The New York Times, TIME and The Wall Street Journal. These prestigious titles have received over 1000 major journalism awards, including 190 Pulitzer Prizes, between them.
The analysis identifies a significant performance uplift for WMG inventory across all forms of digital advertising compared to Moat’s Q3 benchmarks (see full table below). However, the greatest effect is seen for desktop video and mobile advertising:
Desktop video: Desktop videos seen on WMG inventory achieve viewability rates 21% higher than average against the industry standard for viewability (50% viewable for 2 seconds). Compared to the popular agency standard, it achieved a staggering 92% uplift. Consumer attention to videos seen on WMG titles was also high, with completion rates coming in 86% higher compared to the Moat Q3 benchmarks on one measure.
Mobile display: When it comes to earning customer attention on mobile, the WMG mobile inventory also fares very highly. Compared to Moat’s Q3 benchmarks, it achieved viewability rates 40% higher, engaged consumers for 12% longer and encouraged 43% more interactions.
Emma Winchurch-Beale, International Sales Director at The Washington Post and President at the World Media Group, adds, “Marc Pritchard of P&G has put campaign effectiveness into the spotlight this year, with his headline-grabbing comments about only accepting industry-standard-validated viewability for media transacting. Advertisers should push for viewability rates that are even higher than this and should be confident their ads appear in trusted environments. We believe our analysis shows that premium media brands offer this and drive greater value for advertisers.”
As well as offering award-winning journalism, WMG members also provide high-tech techniques for optimising ad viewability and device-agnostic solutions to ensure that ads are always viewed at the appropriate size.
| Measure/Benchmark | World Media Group | Lift compared to Moat Q3 Benchmarks |
| Desktop Display Industry View Rate (50% for 1 second) | 62.6% | +17% |
| Desktop Display Industry In-View Time | 30.7s | +19% |
| Desktop Display Universal Interaction Time | 11.5s | +26% |
| Mobile Display Industry View Rate (50% for 1 second) | 59.7% | +40% |
| Mobile Display Industry In-View Time | 18.5s | +12% |
| Mobile Display Universal Touch Rate | 13.4% | +43% |
| Desktop Video Industry In-View Rate (50% for 1 second) | 69.0% | +21% |
| Desktop Video Popular Agency Standard | 43.9% | +92% |