Digital advertising trade group the IAB and measurement accreditation body the MRC have released new attention measurement guidelines for public comment. The guidelines, developed by the IAB Attention Task Force, a group made up of more than 200 members from across the industry, aim to establish a framework for consistent measurement and reporting of various attention indicators across media, with a view to eventual MRC accreditation audits of attention measurement services.
“Attention is getting a lot of, well, attention — but without a shared standard, it’s become a bit of a Wild West situation”, said Angelina Eng, VP of measurement, addressability & data center & center of excellence operations. “Right now, there are too many different ways to measure and define it, which creates confusion and makes it hard to compare results or build trust. These guidelines are about bringing order to the chaos.”
Establishing consistency
The guidelines cover four primary methodological approaches to measuring attention: data signals, visual tracking, physiological and neurological observations, and panel or survey-based inputs. They’re designed to work for the various contexts in which attention metrics might be used, such as the measurement of content, placements, and ad creative.
The guidelines set out standard definitions for different terms and metrics used in attention measurement. For each of the four methodological approaches, IAB and MRC have also outlined minimum requirements that each methodology must meet, as well as any key data signals which must be measured, and any other data which must be reported.
The mandatory metrics vary depending on whether it’s content, creative, or placement being measured. So, for example, for any attention measurement methodologies which use visual tracking, ‘facial sentiment’ is a required metric for measurement of creative, but not for placements or content.
Ron Pinelli, SVP of digital research and standards at the MRC, said these guidelines “define not just what attention is, but how to measure it with quality and consistency in a way that’s transparent, comparable, and built to inform future validation through independent audit and accreditation”.
Creating the conditions for trust
The IAB’s Angelina Eng said that ultimately, establishing standards for attention measurement will help boost their usage across the industry. “This is about creating the conditions for trust — and ultimately, investment — in attention as a reliable indicator of exposure and engagement,” she said.
As attention measurement has gained traction, vendors have come under increasing scrutiny. The Attention Research Foundation, for example, has been studying the validity of these emerging measurement tools, and found that different attention measurement tools produce significantly different results (at least when used to test creative).
Greater consistency within each different methodology might help solve this problem. Plus, if the standards help raise awareness of the key differences between these methodologies, they might help educate the industry on the ways in which they differ.
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