The proportion of banner ads served that met minimum viewability guidelines – that is, 50% of the ad is in view for at least one second – rose from 52% to 56% in the last quarter of 2017.

The increase takes viewability to its highest level since Q2 of 2014, according to the quarterly benchmarking report.

While the UK has historically lagged behind other European countries measured by Meetrics, the latest report indicates it has overtaken both Switzerland ( 48%), Poland ( 50%) and Germany ( 55%). However, it is still a way behind the leading players: Austria performs best for ad viewability, at 67%, followed by Italy ( 63%), France ( 62%) and Sweden ( 61%).

The average time an ad was in view in the UK (but not necessarily viewed) rose by 15% to 24.3 seconds.

Philipp von Hilgers, chief executive and co-founder at Meetrics, said: "The jump is impressive as in most markets viewability drops in the final quarter due to higher activity – driven by Christmas – which leads to lower quality placements resulting in lower viewability, so the UK has done very well to override this trend."