The Tool Desk
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Build a balanced TV and streaming ad scorecard
Use the measures below as separate indicators, not interchangeable versions of “performance.” Break out results by channel, publisher or platform, placement, geography, device, and creative where the data is available. Record the audience definition, measurement source, and applicable rules alongside each result.
| Measure | What it answers | Key qualification |
|---|---|---|
| Impressions, spend, and CPM | How much delivery was reported, what it cost, and the cost per thousand reported impressions. | Confirm the event counted as an impression and the invalid-traffic exclusions applied. |
| Target reach and total reach | How many unique people in the intended audience, or overall, were estimated to have been exposed. | Specify the population, period, geography, and whether the estimate represents people or households. |
| Average frequency and frequency distribution | How often reached people were exposed on average, and how exposures were distributed among them. | Average frequency can conceal heavy exposure among some viewers; cross-platform deduplication matters. |
| Video quartiles and completion rate | How far playback progressed and what share of counted video plays reached the defined completion point. | Completion is not, by itself, proof of viewability, attention, or a unique person watching. |
| Measurable impressions, viewable impressions, viewable rate, and non-measurable share | Whether viewability could be assessed and, among the applicable denominator, whether the ad met the selected visibility rule. | State the standard, denominator, and share for which viewability could not be measured. |
| Attention, engagement, or brand response | Whether exposure or user-response signals align with an awareness or persuasion goal. | Define the signals or study method; provider scores may not be comparable. |
| Conversions, cost per result, and incremental lift | Whether the campaign is associated with advertiser-defined actions and, where measured credibly, caused additional outcomes. | Disclose event definitions, attribution window, modeled components, and the causal or attribution method. |
What delivery and impression metrics tell you
Impressions are a delivery measure
Digital video impression counting has channel-specific guidance. The IAB/MRC digital video guideline covers online, mobile, and OTT activity and addresses streaming-player impression counting. For each streaming report, ask which playback or ad event triggers the count, what invalid traffic is excluded, and whether playback can continue to count while a television is off. A served-impression total is not the same thing as a viewable exposure or a count of unique people.
Use CPM with its underlying impression definition
CPM—spend per thousand impressions—is useful for describing delivery cost only when the impression basis is clear. If two platforms count different events, or apply different invalid-traffic controls, their CPMs do not describe precisely the same unit. Retain spend and impression totals with CPM so the comparison can be interpreted rather than treated as a standalone quality score.
#1 Best Overall
How to interpret reach and frequency across TV and streaming
Report target reach, total reach, and the audience basis
Reach estimates the number of unique people exposed; target reach narrows that estimate to the campaign’s intended audience. State the audience definition, geography, measurement period, and whether the estimate is person- or household-oriented. Measurement providers may combine panels with large-scale device data, so ask how viewing is identified and how the estimate is generalized.
Pair average frequency with its distribution
Average frequency is the average number of exposures among those reached. It does not reveal whether most people saw the ad a few times while a smaller group saw it repeatedly. Include a frequency distribution where available. Gross rating points (GRPs), calculated by multiplying reach by frequency, can summarize delivery while obscuring how exposures are distributed among individual viewers.
Make cross-platform reach and frequency explicitly deduplicated
For a campaign combining linear TV and streaming, report cross-platform unduplicated reach and overall frequency only with the population, time period, identity or deduplication approach, and co-viewing treatment stated. A person may watch together with others on a CTV, and a household or device signal does not automatically establish how many individuals saw the ad. Google’s reporting definitions, for example, describe unique and co-viewed reach as estimates based on identifiers and aggregated sign-in data—not direct person-by-person counts.
Nielsen noted in its 2023 audience-measurement explainer that frequency control can be difficult across platforms and that TV advertisers often buy GRPs while frequency remains largely uncontrolled for individual viewers. Treat a campaign-level average as a summary, not evidence that each person received the intended exposure level.
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Completion describes playback progress
Track quartile progress and completion rate when video progression matters to the campaign. Confirm how the platform defines a completed play and what plays are in the denominator. A completed playback should not automatically be called a viewable exposure: completion does not by itself establish that the ad met a visibility standard or that a person was watching.
Viewability depends on a stated rule and measurement coverage
Google Active View’s video definition counts an ad as viewable when at least 50% of its area is visible for at least two seconds. That is a Google measurement definition, not a universal CTV threshold or proof that every publisher and device supports equivalent measurement. Report viewable impressions and the viewable rate with the applicable denominator and standard.
Rank #3
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Show what could not be measured
A non-measurable impression means the system could not determine viewability; it does not mean the impression was either viewable or non-viewable, and it says nothing by itself about whether the ad was noticed. Include measurable impressions and the non-measurable share so a reported viewable rate is not mistaken for coverage of all delivery.
Choose attention and brand measures for the campaign objective
Separate exposure signals from user engagement
IAB’s attention explainer distinguishes ad-related exposure signals—such as viewable time, share of screen, completion, and audibility—from user-related engagement signals such as clicks, skips, playback events, and volume changes. These are different kinds of evidence. Choose signals that suit the campaign goal and review the media and content environment for fraud, viewability, brand safety, suitability, contextual relevance, and geographic targeting. Attention providers use different definitions, so do not assume one provider’s score is directly comparable with another’s.
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For awareness or persuasion campaigns, add a brand-lift or recall measure when a credible exposed/control or pre/post design is available. Report the study population, sample, field dates, exact survey outcome, and confidence or other uncertainty information. Describe a modeled lift estimate as an estimate, not as a directly observed count of people whose attitudes changed.
Rank #4
Measure business outcomes without confusing attribution and causation
For response-oriented campaigns, define the outcome before launch: for example, a qualified visit, lead, purchase, app action, or another advertiser-specific event. Report conversion volume and cost per result, then add incremental lift only when a credible control or causal design supports it.
Document the event definition, attribution window, identity matching, modeled components, and whether the result is attributed to advertising or demonstrated to be incremental. IAB Tech Lab describes ECAPI as a standard for communicating marketing-related events from advertisers’ systems to platforms and partners. Standardized event communication can help move event data; it does not establish that the advertising caused the outcome.
Compare platforms and measurement providers on the same basis
Before comparing campaign results or choosing a reporting method, ask for the following details together. If a definition or comparable value is unavailable, mark it as not stated rather than assuming it matches another report.
- Audience scope: target population, geography, demographic basis, time period, and whether the reported estimate is person- or household-oriented.
- Deduplication and co-viewing: whether exposures are deduplicated across devices, platforms, and linear TV, and how multiple viewers sharing a CTV are represented.
- Impression and traffic rules: the counted event, exclusions, invalid-traffic controls, and consistency of definitions across web video, CTV, social video, and linear TV.
- Viewability coverage: the applicable standard, measurable denominator, non-measurable share, and whether completion or progress events are being used as a proxy.
- Outcome method: observed versus modeled results, event definitions, attribution windows, control groups or incrementality methods, and uncertainty.
- Independent assurance: MRC accreditation where applicable, standards followed, and whether impression, invalid-traffic, and viewability methods have been independently verified.
- Reporting access: available detail and latency, breakdowns by creative and placement, and access to underlying event or impression data where contractually and legally available.
Also ask which signals the provider uses—such as SDKs, tags, or server-side logs—and whether device differences affect measurement. Find out whether estimates combine deterministic signals, modeled or probabilistic methods, or panel data, and how any panel estimate is generalized. IAB Tech Lab lists OM SDK for third-party viewability and verification in web video, mobile apps, and CTV; its measurement page listed OM SDK v1.5 (June 2024) and ECAPI v1.0 (January 2026) when accessed. Standards and platform definitions can change, so confirm the version and scope in force for the campaign.
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