Unlocking the Secrets of Attention-Based Advertising: Why Early Adopters Are Winning Big

What will it take for advertisers to actually buy campaigns based on attention metrics? This question was central to Adelaide’s Business of Attention event held in New York City last Tuesday. Stakeholders from across the ecosystem gathered to discuss whether attention can evolve into a programmatic currency, the necessity of standardization, and potential alternative trading methods based on attention in the short term.

The Publisher Play

Some positive news for news publishers: High-attention inventory can encourage buyers to overlook common concerns regarding online news placements, especially if publishers proactively mitigate the risks involved. Multiple publishers reported success in using attention guarantees to entice hesitant buyers. For instance, The Wall Street Journal assured brands that their campaigns would meet or exceed benchmarks, which helped to alleviate concerns and encourage spending during critical times like presidential elections.

The Arbitrage Opportunity

Current pricing often fails to correlate with a site’s attention score, creating an arbitrage opportunity for buyers and resellers, especially in high-attention marketplaces. Surprisingly low prices for high-attention inventory can stimulate demand, as attention metrics are still new and not yet widely adopted as a media currency. This disconnect means that high-attention inventory can sometimes sell for lower CPMs than lower-attention units.

Attention in the Bid Stream

Curating inventory into Private Marketplaces (PMPs) based on attention scores can help navigate the challenges of gathering attention signals in the programmatic bid stream. While Supply-Side Platforms (SSPs) can add attention metrics to bid requests, many Demand-Side Platforms (DSPs) are not equipped to bid based on these signals. However, a PMP’s deal ID can bridge the gap for DSPs that do not support attention-based targeting.

The Standardization Question

The long-term success of attention as a currency will depend on standardization across various platforms and metrics. However, this is a contentious issue. Some buy-side experts argue that standardization may not serve advertisers' best interests, as different platforms and audiences might have unique interpretations of what attention means and its impact on marketing funnels. There's a concern that standardization could lead to gaming the system, similar to past issues with viewability standards.