IAB IAB Ad Measurement and Analytics 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is 'incrementality' in digital advertising measurement?
- The gradual increase in ad spend over a campaign period
- The additional conversions or outcomes that would not have occurred without the advertising campaign (Correct answer)
- The percentage increase in CTR achieved through creative optimization
- A method of incrementally releasing campaign budgets to avoid waste
Correct answer: The additional conversions or outcomes that would not have occurred without the advertising campaign
Incrementality measures the true causal impact of advertising by identifying the additional conversions that occurred because of the campaign, beyond what would have happened organically.
Question 2: What is 'cost per acquisition' (CPA)?
- The cost to acquire a new advertising platform subscription
- The average cost an advertiser pays for each desired conversion action (sale, lead, sign-up) (Correct answer)
- The fee paid to an agency for managing an ad campaign
- The cost per ad placement purchased on a publisher's site
Correct answer: The average cost an advertiser pays for each desired conversion action (sale, lead, sign-up)
CPA measures the average cost of generating one conversion (such as a purchase, lead, or app install), calculated as total ad spend divided by number of conversions.
Question 3: What is 'viewability rate' in digital advertising?
- The percentage of users who viewed a video ad to completion
- The percentage of total measured impressions that met the MRC viewability threshold (Correct answer)
- The rate at which ads load into a visible position on a webpage
- The proportion of ad inventory that passes brand safety filters
Correct answer: The percentage of total measured impressions that met the MRC viewability threshold
Viewability rate is the percentage of measured ad impressions that met the MRC/IAB standard for a viewable impression (50% pixels visible for 1 second for display; 50% for 2 seconds for video).
Question 4: What does 'MRC accreditation' mean for ad measurement companies?
- A government license required to operate an advertising measurement business
- Accreditation from the Media Rating Council that validates a measurement vendor's methodologies as accurate and reliable (Correct answer)
- Membership in the Mobile Rating Committee for mobile ad standards
- Certification from major publishers that a measurement tool is approved for use
Correct answer: Accreditation from the Media Rating Council that validates a measurement vendor's methodologies as accurate and reliable
MRC (Media Rating Council) accreditation means an independent body has audited and validated that a measurement company's methodologies and systems meet established standards for accuracy and integrity.
Question 5: What is a 'conversion funnel' in digital advertising?
- A visual tool for tracking the flow of ad budgets across channels
- The stages a consumer passes through—from awareness to purchase—that advertisers map campaigns against (Correct answer)
- A reporting dashboard that visualizes campaign performance metrics
- A programmatic bidding strategy that funnels budget to top-performing placements
Correct answer: The stages a consumer passes through—from awareness to purchase—that advertisers map campaigns against
A conversion funnel represents the sequential stages (e.g., awareness → consideration → decision → action) that consumers move through on their way to completing a desired action.
Question 6: What is 'share of voice' (SOV) in advertising?
- The percentage of a brand's ads that include spoken audio elements
- A brand's percentage of total advertising activity or impressions within its competitive category (Correct answer)
- The proportion of an ad's budget allocated to audio vs. visual formats
- The number of brand mentions generated by an advertising campaign
Correct answer: A brand's percentage of total advertising activity or impressions within its competitive category
Share of voice measures a brand's advertising presence relative to the total advertising activity in its category, typically expressed as a percentage of total impressions or spend.
IAB IAB Ad Measurement and Analytics 3
What is 'incrementality' in digital advertising measurement?