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As the worlds of digital trading and connected TV converge, some buyers and adtech firms are using attention metrics, already being adopted by digital publishers, to justify CTV pricing and judge ongoing campaign performance.
As the recent NewFronts showed, there’s an appetite for this newer measurement. Using attention metrics in CTV is still nascent, and wider adoption could be stymied by common setbacks like standardization and fragmentation.
Vendors such as TVision combine eye-tracking data with panel information to gauge viewers’ attention across CTV. Attention can vary depending on the app-level engagement, time of day, program content, pod position and clutter, pod number and co-viewing scenarios, according to TVision, which began measuring CTV in 2019.
When evaluating CTV and linear buys, marketers consider whether viewers stay in the room when ads air or what creative concepts drive the most attention. Applying attention measurements to CTV can help marketers pinpoint what works.
“You can actually understand, as a buyer, the programs and programming that have a higher level of attention [defined as eyes on screen] when your ad is playing, versus a lower level of attention,” said Paolo Provinciali, vp, marketing growth, performance and operations at LinkedIn.
Attention data can help justify streaming CPM costs, which can range from $40 to $70, said Kevin Krim, president and CEO of TV measurement firm EDO. That’s roughly double the average price of digital advertising and linear TV alternatives, he said—although CPMs vary greatly depending on criteria like content, seasonality and targeting.
Attention data also offers advertisers a performance benchmark to hit.
For instance, attention vendor Adelaide, which began measuring CTV in 2021, partners with TVision to offer advertisers an attention-optimized CTV attention unit (AU) benchmark. The baseline can vary depending on the advertiser and its goals but, in general, for CTV the average hovers at 63 on a 0 to 100 scale that measures how probable it is that a viewer pays attention.
This makes it possible to assess an in-flight CTV campaign’s performance relative to industry averages, so buyers can adjust creative content while it’s still in-market.
