OM SDK Q2 2020 Report

The IAB TechLab’s Open Measurement Software Development Kit (OM SDK) is designed to facilitate third-party viewability and verification measurement for ads served to mobile app environments without requiring integration of measurement SDKs from multiple ad verification providers.

DV is dedicated to supporting the OM SDK initiative, and continues to advocate for adoption — working to streamline and automate processes that make integration simple and convenient for demand and supply partners alike. This report provides an update on DV and the industry’s progress in adopting this solution.

Impact on DV’s Measurement

DV promotes targeting of OM SDK inventory among demand-side clients and partners, while assisting with the integration of the OM SDK on the supply side.

We’re pleased to see a growing trend on the adoption of OM SDK as well as in OM traffic, which has a positive effect in media quality and measurement. Measurability is the foundation of viewability and is primarily driven by how an ad is tagged and the environment in which it is served. As presented in DV’s recently published Global Insights Report, during the last 12 months we’ve seen that the Measured Rate for mobile app video increased by 61% — this is largely driven by the growth in OM SDK adoption. During the same time period, the viewable rate of ad impressions on mobile apps increased to 75% globally.

By Q2 2020, there were approximately 45,000 OM SDK-enabled apps. During the second quarter of 2020, mobile in-app impressions measured with OM SDK grew by 210% compared with Q2 of 2019. This shows strong year-over year growth in the adoption of OM SDK (despite the slowdown associated with COVID-19) as the increase in inventory sources supports and expands OM SDK based mobile in-app measurement.

IAB Adoption and Certification

Wide industry support continues for the IAB Tech Lab’s Open Measurement SDK certification program with over 50 companies certified for their OM Integrations.

The IAB Tech Lab offers a compliance service to ensure that the OM SDK integration is implemented successfully and works with all measurement provider tags. This certification process includes functionality and scenario testing before validating the integration. A full list of certified companies can be found on the IAB TechLab site.

Benefits of OM SDK

A single source SDK is a collaborative effort for the industry, making adoption easier for publishers and app developers and measurement more accurate and impactful for advertisers. Adoption of the OM SDK reduces measurement inconsistencies for mobile apps, making it easier for advertisers to get consistent media quality signals across environments. When publishers and app developers adopt the OM SDK, it:

• Eliminates individual customized and proprietary black box solutions.
• Facilitates adoption, innovation and troubleshooting.
• Boosts accuracy and performance, making measurement more efficient and reducing discrepancies.
• Improves the user experience, reducing the native app footprint and memory utilization.
• Reduces integration timelines and ongoing maintenance efforts.
• Streamlines data and reduces dependencies, providing equal data access to all vendors.