This video platform crushed the competition in consumer attention

A new report by Adelaide, a marketing analytics firm, reveals that YouTube captured the most attention among digital media platforms in 2023. The report, which utilizes an attention unit (AU) to measure the likelihood of an ad placement to grab attention and lead to positive outcomes, highlights YouTube’s dominance throughout the year.

According to the report, YouTube’s AU rose from 67.15 to 70.65 across the first two quarters of 2023 before dipping slightly in the latter half of the year. Despite these fluctuations, YouTube ended the year with a Q4 AU of 63.0.

Podcast advertisements were the only format outperforming all other channels and formats, except YouTube, in terms of digital media attention in 2023. Podcast AU remained relatively stable throughout the year, dropping slightly from 51.17 in Q1 to 49.12 by Q4. This stability indicates that podcasting continues to be a reliable channel for capturing consumer attention.

The top channels according to the chart Worldwide Attention Metric (AU), by Channel and Platform, Q4 2023:

• YouTube (AU: 63.0)
• Podcasts (AU: 49.12)
• Streaming audio (AU: 44.7)
• Online video (AU: 37.1)
• X (formerly Twitter) (AU: 33.5)
• Display Advertising (AU: 22.4)
• Snapchat (AU: 21.1)
• TikTok (AU: 21.1)
• LinkedIn (AU: 20.9)
• Reddit (AU: 19.7)
• Facebook (AU: 16.7)

The Adelaide report comes at a time when the digital advertising landscape is undergoing a significant shift. With Google phasing out third-party cookies later this year, marketers are scrambling to find new ways to measure ad effectiveness. Platforms that can provide robust data and strong attention metrics are likely to be the biggest beneficiaries in this evolving environment.

It’s important to note that this Adelaide report only considers digital media advertising. Other offline marketing channels, such as television, radio, OOH, and print media, are not included in this data.

Attention Unit (AU)

Adelaide's "Attention Unit" (AU) metric as a way to measure the likelihood of an ad placement capturing attention and generating impactful outcomes.

Unlike traditional click-through rates (CTR) or impressions, AU prioritizes how well an ad grabs a viewer's attention.

Adelaide's AU metric goes beyond just capturing attention. It aims to predict whether that attention will lead to positive outcomes for advertisers, such as brand awareness, purchase intent, or sales.

AU is derived from a combination of session-level page data and outcome data, likely analyzed through machine learning algorithms. This allows Adelaide to consider various factors that might influence an ad's effectiveness, beyond just how long it's seen.

The exact details of how Adelaide calculates AU are not public knowledge. This makes it difficult to directly compare AU scores across different platforms or studies.

Overall, Adelaide's AU metric seems to be a proprietary way to assess ad effectiveness based on attention and its potential to drive positive results. It offers a more nuanced perspective compared to traditional metrics that only measure impressions or clicks.