Pay attention: context matters | WARC | The Feed

Pay attention: context matters

Readers pay more attention to ads when they are engaged in the content the ad is placed within, according to research* from Havas Media Group and Teads: it found that articles generated nearly 600% more attention than subcategory pages and 160% more than homepages. 

Why it matters

“The quality of attention an ad receives is as much of a driver of advertising outcomes as the raw volume,” says Caroline Hugonenc, SVP Research & Insights at Teads. 

Takeaways 

• Ads placed in the center of the screen on mobile received 25% more attention than ads on the side of the screen.
• ‘Ad clutter’ weakens attention, with sports sites delivering twice the quantity of ads per screen, but only generating half as much attention per ad when compared to news sites. 
• The study found a 20% balance between ads and content optimized user attention and limits the perception of clutter (so one larger ad rather than multiple smaller ones can be more effective in garnering reader attention).
• News was the best-performing category for time spent watching ads across gender and age groups, demonstrating how brands can support quality journalism at the same time as engaging consumers.

*The study used eye-tracking and behavioural data passively collected from more than 2,000 US and UK panelists by Lumen Research since 2018, measuring engagement with content by a user’s dwell time per screen and scroll speed. 

Sourced from Havas Media Group