Local Papers Unload on Viewability Bad Actors and ‘Garbage Inventory’

Viewability is an innocent-sounding term that has the entire digital media business in a lather. Ever since a 2014 Google study documented that 52 percent of ad impressions actually were not seen by users, viewability has been a front-burner issue for marketers and publishers alike.

It’s easy to see why. Total media ad spending in the U.S. will reach $184 billion this year, according to researcher eMarketer, and digital accounts for nearly one-third of that total. Its share is only going to get bigger, so there’s a lot riding on the viewability issue.