Glossary
What is MRC (Media Rating Council)?
Also called: Media Rating Council
The MRC (Media Rating Council) is a US industry body that audits and accredits media measurement and sets standards such as viewability.
हिंदी में पढ़ेंThe Media Rating Council is a not-for-profit, self-regulatory industry body, set up in 1963 at the request of the US Congress. It audits and accredits media measurement products and data sources across digital, television, radio, print and out-of-home.
In digital advertising the MRC is best known for its standards. Its Viewable Ad Impression Measurement Guidelines define a viewable display impression as at least 50% of pixels in view for one continuous second, and a viewable video impression as 50% for two continuous seconds. Google’s Active View follows this standard.
The MRC also splits invalid traffic into two groups. General invalid traffic (GIVT), such as declared crawlers and data-centre requests, is caught routinely with lists. Sophisticated invalid traffic (SIVT), such as hijacked devices or hidden ads, is found only with advanced analysis. SIVT is what usually drives deductions and account reviews.
Example
A 300×250 ad has 75,000 pixels. Under the MRC display rule, at least 37,500 of them must be on screen for one continuous second for the impression to count as viewable.
Why it matters to publishers
When buyers, ad servers and verification vendors talk about viewable or invalid impressions, they usually mean the MRC definitions. Knowing them helps you read reports and settle disputes.