State of play
An impression is an opportunity or potential to view. Media is sold on this potential rather than whether someone has actually seen the ad or not. On average, 75% of the ads you pay for don’t aren’t seen by a human, which means they don’t deliver the value you think they do.
It would seem that attention, as a measure of ad impact and ad delivery, is experiencing a groundswell of interest and uptake. Actual human viewing behaviour is getting the focus it deserves.
As attention measurement moves towards mass-market acceptance the range of attention vendors will broaden and along with it the way human attention should be measured and used runs the risk of dilution and confusion.
The problem
The problem is, when no attention is paid to an ad, the ad can have no positive impact on business outcomes. It’s actually that straightforward. No attention. No impact. Impression reform is needed so that we can move a measured impression from an opportunity-to-see to a Verified Human View.
Media trading should be fair and accountable. We know from our research, and others, that human attention is highly valuable and will aid in driving fairness and accountability.
Advertisers have invested large parts of their budgets into media planning and trading systems operating on traditional buying measures. If we are asking advertisers and agencies to change how they do things, it’s important to demonstrate the value of attention.