Impression

What It Is

An impression is one instance of an ad being served and rendered on a screen. Every time your ad loads in a webpage, a feed, a streaming app, or a digital billboard, that counts as one impression, regardless of whether anyone clicked, watched the full video, or paid attention.

Why It Matters

Impressions are the base unit of advertising measurement. They are also the most overrated metric on most reports. An impression is the opportunity for an ad to be seen, not proof that it was. Reach, frequency, and conversion data tell you whether the impression actually did its job.