iSpot.tv launches attention-getting analytics for TV ads

An example of iSpot.tv’s new Creative Wear analytics, showing attention drop over time.

iSpot.tv monitors TV ads, getting regular data streams from software on 10 million Vizio TVs.

The Bellevue, Washington-based company is now taking its ad monitoring a step further by releasing three analytics products to measure viewers’ attention when ads are shown. CEO and founder Sean Muller told me that this is the first large-scale real-time solution for measuring attention and its falloff across all ads.

Owners of these Vizio sets have opted in or out when the set first turns on. If they ignore the option after five times of set turn-ons, Muller says the software assumes that’s an opt-out. But, he added, if you opt, out you don’t get the TV program recommendations made available from iSpot data.

The three new analytics products are based on data iSpot has been collecting over the last several years, which measures four kinds of explicit interruptions: changing the channel, pulling up the guide, fast-forwarding or turning off the TV. In the past, however, the data was only made available through a few metrics, such as average viewing rate of an ad, not through separate analytics packages that give a more complete view.

The three new products are:

• Creative Wear, which tracks daily changes in attention over the lifetime of an ad, indicating if viewers are getting tired of an ad. (See a screen showing Creative Wear for a Geico ad, at the top of this page.)
• Attention Score shows the ad’s average view time, based on the four interruptive viewer actions mentioned above.
• Attention Index compares a TV ad’s performance or campaign against relative interruptions by a competitor or the industry at large. (See screen below.)

iSpot’s Attention Index

Muller acknowledged that iSpot is actually measuring lack of interest, indicating when a viewer has chosen another TV option. The implication is that, if there’s not a lack of interest, there’s interest, because the data doesn’t show if you’re reading while the TV is on or if you’ve left the set on after leaving the room.

He noted that a lot of brands are looking to measure TV ads by the kind of viewability — which some describe as attention metrics — that has been generally available for online ads.

[Article on MarTech Today.]

About The Author

Barry Levine

Barry Levine covers marketing technology for Third Door Media. Previously, he covered this space as a Senior Writer for VentureBeat, and he has written about these and other tech subjects for such publications as CMSWire and NewsFactor. He founded and led the web site/unit at PBS station Thirteen/WNET; worked as an online Senior Producer/writer for Viacom; created a successful interactive game, PLAY IT BY EAR: The First CD Game; founded and led an independent film showcase, CENTER SCREEN, based at Harvard and M.I.T.; and served over five years as a consultant to the M.I.T. Media Lab. You can find him at LinkedIn, and on Twitter at xBarryLevine.