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Headlines starting off the year in ad-tech news have sought to finally hammer out definitions for terms that went mainstream last year. The viewability debate rages on, and industry execs are offering their own meanings to just what is a premium publisher. Also, there are more of those publishers going programmatic with their premium inventory. Lastly, Twitter is making at-tech waves by paving the way for autoplay video ads on its service.

• Op-ed: ‘Dark viewability' and why the IAB has it right (Digiday) – Jeff Burkett, of The Washington Post, provided his point of view this week on the viewability debate between the two sides of the coin that have been claimed by the IAB and the 4 A's. Burkett, writing obviously from the publishers' perspective, and brings up the potential lost revenue for publishers when campaigns demand 100 viewability but the technology to even measure each and every impression doesn't exist.

• Google to Roll Out Viewability Reporting (ClickZ) – Speaking of viewability, Google is making the push to provide more information for brand advertisers running campaigns through its system. The reports, specifically relating to video, will offer insights about which are seen, unseen, ignored or skipped through.

• What does ‘premium publisher' mean, anyway? (Digiday) – As soon as the phrase “premium publisher” came about, publishers obviously wanted to play that tag. One of the benefits of being seen as premium is what could be charged for advertising. Despite the moniker's age, there's still a bit of debate about what exactly might make a publisher a premium one. Check out our comment at the end of the article, as we felt like weighing in too.
• More Top Media Publications Trust Programmatic For Premium Ad Inventory (AdWeek) – So, “premium” certainly gets around. There's also premium inventory — the stuff that big time pubs have long reserved for their direct sales teams to deal with. Programmatic buying started out as an excellent way to monetize that remnant inventory (that which remained after the sales team finished their business). However, the results from programmatic selling have seen such great results that more top-level publishers are using it for the top-level inventory.

• Twitter's Video Plans Include Autoplay Ad Previews (AdAge) – Advertisers prefer autoplay video because it grabs the user's attention. Users don't like autoplay video, because it grabs their attention. Many website publishers prefer to keep their users happy, and will only work with advertising partners who offer the ability to remove autoplay from video ads. Social media sites, however, have taken a different road. First, Facebook introduced autoplay video ads. Now it looks like Twitter is just a few steps away.