Glossary/Adtech & Programmatic/Viewability
Adtech & Programmatic
Viewability
Whether an ad had a real chance to be seen; MRC standard is 50% of pixels for one second (display).
By Brandon Mina·CEO, BrandPilot AI·Updated November 2026
Appears in Lesson 8 of Programmatic 101
Short answer
Viewability measures whether an ad had a real opportunity to be seen by a person. Under the Media Rating Council standard, a display ad counts as viewable when at least 50% of its pixels are on screen for one continuous second; for video, two continuous seconds. Advertisers use viewability to judge inventory quality and pricing.