RANCHO PALOS VERDES, CA: Mobile measurement must improve so the channel does not become a "black hole" for determining ad viewability, according to Randall Rothenberg, president/CEO of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB).

Speaking at the Association of National Advertisers' (ANA) 2015 Digital & Social Media Conference, Rothenberg argued mobile is one of the "biggest" viewability challenges - a subject also likely to feature at the IAB's 2015 MIXX conference in New York this week.

More specifically, while 67% of impressions are now consistently viewable, Rothenberg reminded the ANA assembly that this means "close to a third are not”.

He continued: "There are real big reasons for that. And one of the biggest is that mobile viewable [impressions] do not exist." (For more, including further problems related to measurement, read Warc's exclusive report: IAB opens MIXX with call for viewability.)

"As more and more consumers shift their digital consumption onto mobile devices - and more and more advertising follows - it stands to reason that more and more of those advertising impressions are not going to be viewable, because the standard does not exist yet."

However, Rothenberg expressed optimism that the industry can develop appropriate technologies to assist in the maturation of the mobile marketplace.

"Non-viewable is a technical problem. We are committed, committed, committed to making mobile measurement make sense," he said.

The IAB has already partnered with the ANA and American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A's) on the "Making Measurement Make Sense" program, which seeks to enhance digital standards in this area.

And Rothenberg suggested a commitment to resolving the adverse situation on mobile is an important part of the wider agenda.

"[Marketers need] to be able to follow their consumers. That is the primary need in their lives. They can't follow them into black holes that have no standards. That have no best practices," he said.

"We need to make mobile measurement consistent with the way all other measurement works."

Data sourced from Warc