SINGAPORE/SYDNEY: South Korea leads the world in terms of video ad attention because it has a viewable completion rate of 48%, the highest among major global markets, a new report has revealed.

According to video adtech firm TubeMogul, two other Asian markets, Japan (41%) and Indonesia (44%), also have video completion rates significantly above the global average.

For its Q3 Viewable Completion Rate report, TubeMogul compared video ad attention around the world and analysed viewable completion rates for 15-second desktop video ads.

While there is no universal metric for attention, Campaign Asia reported that the company defined viewable completion rate as a person's ability to see an ad as well as the time they spend watching it, making it a proxy for attention in the digital space.

Marketers will be encouraged about the findings for South Korea, Indonesia and Japan – as well as Australia (32%) where viewable completion rates more than doubled year-on-year. But the report also revealed that the trend is not replicated in some other major APAC markets.

China, for example, recorded a viewable completion rate of just 16%, placing the country near the bottom of TubeMogul's rankings alongside Thailand (16%) and Malaysia (14%).

Taylor Schreiner, VP of Research at TubeMogul, explained that these markets are continuing to struggle with issues, such as internet connectivity and ad fraud, although he expected the situation to improve.

"TubeMogul anticipates that Asia, along with South America, are the two regions where we will see significant growth in viewable completion rates as countries like Malaysia, Thailand and China make greater efforts to tackle connectivity issues and ad fraud," he said.

"Australia's viewable completion rates prove that the market is maturing at a rapid rate, specifically on mobile," he continued in comments reported by Which-50.

"Improvements in viewable completion rate occur when both creative and targeting marry effectively. Environment and content matter – and Australia's marketers are rapidly discovering that effective targeting reaps rewards."

Data sourced from TubeMogul, Campaign Asia, Which-50; additional content by Warc staff