Turning 54% viewability into 82%, and reclaiming the waste
viewability, up from 54% in 3 months
Head of Programmatic · May 2026
Viewability went from 54% to 82% in three months. Nearly half of the impressions had never been seen, and fixing that quietly recovered a large slice of wasted budget.
The challenge
Almost half the display budget bought impressions that never entered view. Viewability sat at 54%, below the roughly 71% display average, so a big share of spend produced nothing and reporting could not explain why results were flat.
What we did
- Set a pre-bid viewability floor and cut placements that consistently rendered below the fold
- Moved budget into private marketplace deals with stronger measured viewability
- Prioritised high-viewability sizes such as 300×600 and 336×280 in the creative set
- Added DoubleVerify pre-bid measurement so viewability was bought, not just reported after the fact
The results
| Metric | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Viewability | 54% | 82% |
| Measured wasted spend | ~46% | under 18% |
| Display CTR | 0.18% | 0.34% |
| CPM | $3.10 | $4.20 |
Engagement length: 3 months at about $30,000/month in media. The figures are representative and sit within published display benchmark ranges; no real client is named. Núria led the work.
What this shows
One number moved because several smaller things did: cleaner audiences, better inventory, a sane frequency cap and creative that actually fit. That is the pattern across our work. See the other side of the engagement in display creative & DCO and programmatic media, or read the other case study.
See where your display budget is leaking.
Send us a campaign or a set of live banners. We will tell you, for free, what is costing you clicks and conversions, and what we would change first.