Google to count display ad impressions by begin-to-render from February 17, 2027
Google Ad Manager and AdSense will stop counting a display impression the moment a creative begins downloading. Starting February 17, 2027, the platforms switch to begin-to-render (BTR) measurement, counting an impression only once a creative has loaded and started to render on screen. The change applies to banner inventory across web, mobile web and connected TV; non-banner formats such as native and interstitial ads already use BTR, and video impressions are counted at the first frame. Google developed the shift alongside standards bodies including the Interactive Advertising Bureau and the Media Rating Council, aiming to align its publisher-side counting with demand-side platforms.
Reported impression volumes on display campaigns will fall once BTR takes effect, since impressions that started downloading but never rendered will no longer count. Campaigns planned or benchmarked against current count-on-download totals could see a sudden drop in publisher-reported numbers after February 2027, even with no change in actual delivery. Media buyers can get ahead of the shift by asking publishers to run the comparison reports Google recommends, using data from after August 12, 2026, to see how much of a gap exists between count-on-download and begin-to-render figures before it hits invoicing and campaign benchmarks. The closer alignment with demand-side measurement should, over time, narrow the persistent gap between what publishers report and what advertisers and third-party verification tools record.