Attention Metrics: The Revolution in Advertising Measurement

Think about your day today: dozens of notifications competed for your attention, digital platforms flooded you with content, and you were exposed to hundreds of ads. How many do you actually remember?

In a context where we’re overwhelmed with information, attention is the new currency. Emerging concepts like Attention Metrics are transforming how we evaluate engagement in advertising campaigns, shifting the focus from viewability to meaningful and authentic interaction.

What Is Attention Measurement in Advertising?

Traditional metrics like viewability or impressions don’t guarantee that the advertising message was processed or remembered. That’s why the industry is adopting attention metrics, which offer a more accurate evaluation of authentic engagement by measuring both the actual quality of the exposure and the user’s interaction with the ad.

Attention metrics focus primarily on two key dimensions:

Exposure: The Foundation for Capturing Attention

Exposure evaluates how and for how long the user views the ad, taking into account its intensity and prominence:

Intensity: Refers to the quality and depth of the exposure. It’s not the same for a user to briefly glance at an ad while scrolling as it is to watch it attentively for several seconds. The longer and more focused the attention on the ad, the greater the likelihood that the message will be processed and remembered.
Prominence: Assesses the position and size of the ad on the screen. A small banner at the bottom of the page has less impact than a large-format ad in the center. Prominence determines whether the ad is in a high-visual-impact zone or in a secondary position where it’s easier to ignore.

Key Exposure Factors:

Time on Screen: How long was the ad visible to the user? A banner that appears for just milliseconds doesn’t carry the same weight as one that stays on screen for several seconds in a high-focus area. The longer the user sees it, the greater the intensity of the exposure.
Viewability Percentage: Was the full ad seen or just a portion of it? A partially visible ad can reduce message comprehension, while one with 100% viewability in a prominent zone will have greater impact.
Consumption Experience: In the case of videos, was it played with or without sound? Was it viewed in full screen or minimized? A video with sound and in full screen creates a much more intense exposure than one playing quietly in a corner while the user is multitasking.

Interaction: The Key Factor in Measuring Attention in Advertising

While exposure is the first step to ensuring an ad has the opportunity to be seen, the true attention metric lies in interaction. A user may be exposed to an ad for several seconds, but that doesn’t mean they understood it or that it had any impact on their behavior.

Interactions go beyond a simple served impression; they represent tangible actions that show interest, curiosity, or even purchase intent.

Cursor Movement: Whether the user moves the mouse over the ad or leaves it static can indicate levels of interest or disinterest.
Direct Actions: Did they click? Adjust the volume? Interact with the content in any way? Active interactions are strong indicators of real engagement.
Scroll Speed: If a user scrolls quickly, they likely ignored the ad. On the other hand, if they pause to view it, there’s a higher likelihood of advertising impact.

Solutions for Measuring Advertising Attention in 2025

Today, there are various tools available to measure ad attention across different platforms. However, since the methodology is still evolving, the industry continues to debate the standardization of these metrics. Despite this, some verification providers have developed advanced solutions that offer more precise measurements of advertising attention.

DV Authentic Attention (DoubleVerify)

DoubleVerify offers a solution accredited by the Media Rating Council (MRC) that measures user exposure and interaction in real time.

It analyzes over 50 signals per impression.
It evaluates time on screen, visible proportion, and audibility.
It measures interactions such as cursor movement and video controls.
It includes the DV Attention Index, a standardized benchmark that allows campaigns to be compared against a global reference.

Get to know more about DV Authentic Attention here

IAS Quality Attention (Integral Ad Science)

IAS has developed a model based on eye-tracking and machine learning to predict attention levels and optimize media buying.

It breaks attention into three dimensions: Visibility, Situation, and Interaction.
It uses eye-tracking data combined with machine learning algorithms to estimate the user’s actual attention.
It calculates an Attention Score per impression and campaign, allowing advertisers to evaluate advertising impact and improve performance in real time.

Find out more about IAS Quality Attention

Adelaide Attention Unit (AU)

Adelaide ha desarrollado una métrica de atención predictiva que permite optimizar la compra de medios en función del nivel de atención estimado.

Adelaide has developed a predictive attention metric that allows media buying to be optimized based on the estimated level of attention.
It uses machine learning models to predict the likelihood that an ad will generate attention and results.
Its Flight Control tool allows advertisers to redistribute media investment by prioritizing inventory with high attention scores.
It is used by agencies such as Havas, GroupM, and IPG to improve the effectiveness of their campaigns.

Check Adelaide here

These solutions represent a significant advancement in measuring advertising attention, providing advertisers with more precise tools to evaluate the impact of their campaigns and optimize budget allocation in digital media.

Use Cases and Examples of Attention Metrics Integration

Due to the novelty of this new approach based on attention metrics—and the competitive advantage it represents for advertisers not to disclose their method for measuring Quality Attention—published use cases are still limited, but here are a few of them.

Creative Optimization to Improve Conversions

An automotive manufacturer in APAC (Asia-Pacific) used DV Authentic Attention to evaluate the effectiveness of its creatives and the profitability of its purchases in Private Marketplaces (PMPs), comparing one PMP with first-party data and another with third-party data. The analysis showed that impressions with higher attention generated more conversions, with a 46% increase in the first-party data PMP and a 171% increase in the third-party data PMP. These insights enabled real-time optimization, prioritizing top-performing creatives and adjusting their programmatic strategy to maximize conversions.

Check out this case study here

Increased Conversions with Attention Thresholds

Agencies like Havas, GroupM, and IPG have tested Adelaide AU to set minimum attention thresholds in digital campaigns. Between 2023 and 2024, they achieved 59% more conversions and a 50% increase in lift by avoiding impressions with low attention. The optimization demonstrated the direct relationship between advertising attention and market performance.

Puedes conocer más sobre esta implementación de Adelaide AU en este artículo

Media Outlets Are Adopting Attention Metrics

Publishers have begun applying these metrics to demonstrate the value of their inventory. In 2024, The New York Times launched a project with Adelaide to measure attention benchmarks in its ad spaces, validating that its native formats generate more engagement than the market average. Likewise, outstream video platforms like ShowHeroes are adopting and accepting the need to evaluate efforts in terms of attention metrics, to eventually enable advertisers to achieve high-interaction impressions.

The Future of Advertising Measurement Based on Attention

The shift toward attention metrics will eventually become a reality, as various industry players are already working to integrate these concepts as the new standard in advertising measurement.

The IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) and the MRC (Media Rating Council) are making progress in standardizing attention metrics, establishing criteria, methodologies, and benchmarks that allow for fair comparison across platforms.

The MRC has issued initial guidelines and is working together with the IAB to develop standards and accredit attention measurement providers, such as DoubleVerify. This effort aims to replicate the standardization process that viewability underwent, creating a common framework that ensures comparability and trust in the data through independent audits.

As more solutions like DV Authentic Attention become accredited, advertisers will be able to integrate attention metrics into their strategies without losing consistency across providers, making widespread adoption easier and solidifying attention as a key metric in the advertising industry.

Beyond tools and methodologies, the adoption of attention metrics represents a cultural shift in how advertising success is evaluated. Brands and agencies will need to move away from traditional thinking based on low CPMs and high impression volumes, making room for an approach where real engagement and audience impact take priority.

It’s Time to Shift Toward Attention Measurement in Advertising

Attention metrics are not a passing trend—they represent a fundamental change in how we measure effectiveness in digital advertising. Instead of settling for whether an ad was simply viewable, we can now know with certainty whether we’re truly capturing the user’s attention.

For brands and agencies that haven’t yet explored these metrics, the time to act is now. Integrating attention-based solutions like the ones mentioned in this article can provide deeper insights, improve campaign performance, and ultimately deliver a higher return on investment.