Aug 2026, 01:24 PM

How to build a publisher ad quality report buyers trust

A useful ad quality report does not try to impress buyers with raw volume. It answers a simpler question: is this inventory measurable, viewable, and safe enoug...

A useful ad quality report does not try to impress buyers with raw volume. It answers a simpler question: is this inventory measurable, viewable, and safe enough to buy again?

Start with the inventory definition

List the domain, placement type, device split, country split, and date range first. If the report does not say what inventory is being measured, the rest of the numbers are hard to trust.

Separate viewability from delivery

Google Ad Manager explains that viewability helps determine whether an ad was actually seen, while the IAB/MRC standard for display viewability is typically 50% of pixels in view for at least one second. That means a report should show both served impressions and the part of them that were actually measurable and viewable.

Show invalid traffic separately

Google defines invalid traffic as clicks and impressions that are not the result of genuine user interest. A buyer should not have to guess whether suspicious traffic was filtered, estimated, or excluded. Keep that category visible in the report.

Use a table buyers can scan in one minute

Metric	Why it matters	What to include
Served impressions	Shows the actual volume delivered	By domain, placement, device, and country
Measurable / viewable impressions	Shows whether the ads had a real chance to be seen	Use the same definition every time
Invalid traffic	Separates trustworthy traffic from suspicious activity	Keep the filtered total visible
Top placements	Shows which parts of the site carry quality better	List the zones and their share of volume
Action taken	Shows the report led to a decision	What changed after the last review

What buyers ask next

Which placement is most stable over time?
Which devices and countries produce the best measurable traffic?
Did invalid traffic change after the last review?
What did you change to protect quality?

If the report can answer those four questions, it is useful. If it only repeats fill rate and total impressions, it is too vague to support a buying decision.

For publishers, this kind of report is also the quickest way to explain pricing power. Buyers understand why traffic is worth more when they can see the source, the viewability standard, the invalid traffic filter, and the change history in one place.

Related reading: compare this with Supply Quality and the inventory packaging guide in the blog.

Sources: Google Ad Manager on viewability and Active View, Google Ad Manager on invalid traffic, and the IAB/MRC viewability guidelines.