Contextually targeted Ads drive 3.3x higher attention, proved by Lumen and Seedtag new research

Maggie Hanson Business, Creativity, Studies

Seedtag, the leader in contextual advertising in EMEA and LATAM, today released the report “The Power of Contextual in the Attention Economy”, a study conducted by Seedtag along with attention-measurement firm Lumen Research. The analysis proves that Seedtag’s ads double the attention of other Outstream Video and similar Rich Media platforms and drive 3.3x more attention than IAB standard ads by combining the power of Contextual Intelligence with high-impact formats.

In today’s privacy-first world, the ability for a brand to capture and hold consumers’ attention is becoming a real challenge. However, as the industry moves away from third-party cookies, brands have an opportunity to build meaningful connections with consumers by embracing contextual advertising. These strategies allow brands to deliver relevant ad experiences, fully aligned with consumers’ interest in real-time, driving impact and attention while respecting users’ privacy.

Placing brand messages next to relevant content ensures they will catch users’ attention, which will ultimately reflect on sales figures: according to Lumen, ads holding attention for more than 2.5 seconds can drive sales up to 50%. Seedtag partnered with Lumen to dive deeper into their format’s performance, being able to effectively assess the attention quality driven by Seedtag custom formats and placements.

The research involved 1,200 UK respondents aged 18+, whose navigation patterns and viewing behavior were tracked through eye-tracking technology. The results obtained were then put into context, benchmarking them against main video and display channels.

Key findings:

  • Seedtag’s Ads Initiated Greater Noticeability than All Other Digital Channels: Seedtag’s ads were more noticed, with 87% ads viewed compared to the low of IAB standard ads with 61%.
  • Seedtag Generated Significant View Times: Seedtag ranked in the top two in terms of holding attention, with 3.2s average viewing time for each ad or impression delivered, as opposed to outstream video’s 1.8s.
  • Seedtag Led with Highest APM Score: Seedtag led among all other digital channels with the greatest APM score (Attentive seconds per 000 impressions delivered), driving a total of 2766 seconds per 000′ delivered, 3.3x as much as IAB standard units and 37% more compared to Social Media ads.

The attention data collected within this study has allowed Lumen to build a Seedtag-specific predictive model that provides a deep understanding of its attention performance. By collecting impression-level data through a LAMP tag (Lumen Attention Measurement Platform), Seedtag is capable of determining the attention score for each format, placement, and domain. These insights allow brands to optimize the attention quality of their campaigns, while avoiding impression wastage.

Paul Thompson, UK and Netherlands Country Manager at Seedtag, states: The  research conducted with Lumen makes it clear that the commonly used industry metrics, such as viewability, are not helpful when determining the attention quality of media investment. Therefore, we should invest time in measuring what really matters and what our customers are, for the most part, paying us to deliver. These results also backed up our unique formula, where we combine cutting-edge contextual technology with creativity, driving outstanding results for our partner brands.”

Michael Follett, Managing Director, Lumen Research says: “Seedtag is a key partner for us and we are excited to be announcing this groundbreaking partnership. Lumen’s attention metrics are based on data and algorithms from our eye-tracking panel, which contains several years’ worth of attention data from hundreds of households – comprising thousands of websites and millions of eye tracking data points. By tracking a variety of publishing environments and ad formats on an impression level we have identified relationships between attention and other variables and can create effective predictive estimates. This is a game-changer for advertisers seeking reliable data on the impact of their campaigns.”

Seedtag is the leading Contextual Advertising Company that creates highly impactful and engaging solutions for relevant premium visual content, powering targeting and returns for top publishers and the finest brands. The company’s contextual A.I. allows brands to engage with consumers within their universe of interest on a cookie-free basis.

Seedtag was founded in Madrid in 2014 by two ex-Googlers who wanted to get the most out of editorial images and to this day it is a global company that more than 200 employees and an important international presence with offices in Spain, France, Italy, UK, Benelux, Germany, Mexico, Brazil and Colombia.

Lumen is an attention technology company that uses eye tracking to help brands measure, buy and amplify attention to their marketing.