Video completion measurement
Video completion measurement is about measuring if a user has viewed a video ad until its end or aborted playback before.
Technically, the measurement involves:
- the player which fires the “Start”/“Complete” event calls (as specified in the VAST standard) when the user started/completed video ad playback
- the ad server (Equativ) receiving and logging these event calls and presenting them in Reports/Dashboards, where video completion rate is simply the ratio between the “Complete” events and the “Start” events of the deal/insertion etc.
Video completion rate targeting
Video completion rate targeting is designed for private marketplaces. Thus, it can only be used in Equativ’s deal types “Preferred deals” or “Private auctions”. Guaranteed deals or direct campaigns are not supported.
How it works
The targeting process involves the following steps:
- the end user opens the website and triggers the ad call to Equativ
- taking all parameters of the ad call into account, within less than 2 ms, Equativ’s predictor* determines the probability (in %) that the video will be played completely; a probability output of 80% means that for the given ad call parameters, 4 of 5 videos will be fully completed
- to set video completion rate targeting in a deal, the campaign manager must set a minimum video completion rate, e. g. 60% (see “Targeting options” below)
- if the predictor output (completion probability in %) is less than the completion rate targeted in the deal, the deal will not participate in the auction (the deal Id is removed); in case of predictions equal to or greater than the targeted completion rate, the deal remains in the auction (the deal Id is passed to buyers)
- since the target completion rate (e. g. 60%) functions as a minimum value, Equativ will most probably over-achieve the target
* the predictor is a proprietary, deep learning algorithm developed in-house by Equativ; it is based on a model leveraging all parameters passed to Equativ in ad calls: site, page, country, screen size, platform (smartphone/desktop etc.), browser type, and many others; the prediction is made within 2 ms, thus causing minimal latency in the processing of the ad call
Video completion rate targeting relies on the VAST event pixels fired by the player (Start, First quartile, Complete etc.). If there are issues with firing these pixels, video completion measurement und thus video completion rate targeting will not function properly.
Targeting options
To set the minimum video completion rate:
- go to RTB > Deals and click on the “+” button
- select Preferred Deal or Private auction (Note: Guaranteed deals do not support video completion rate targeting)
- set up your deal as a video deal by targeting an in-stream/out-stream creative template.
- choose from these minimum video completion rates for the deal: 60%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%; Warning: in case of a very high video completion rate, the setting may be too strict and the deal may not deliver as many impressions as expected
- set additional targeting criteria; make sure your targeting phrase is not too restrictive - all selected targeting criteria are joined with “AND” - i. e. the deal will only participate in auctions if the ad call matches with all targeting criteria!
Video completion targeting is not compatible with
Predicted views targeting as both rely on distinct prediction algorithms. Combining these options would apply both criteria simultaneously, resulting in overlapping targets with unintended outcomes.
