The Resource Center / Time-Based Measurement
Overview
Digital publishers have long used page views as the main measure of success for their content – a proxy for how much their audiences value their content. And the folks who pay the bills, the advertisers, have used their own proxy for value: click-through rates. But change has been in play for a couple of years as attention metrics have started to gain acceptance from both sides of the digital media equation. This DCN Resource Center aims to provide a comprehensive view of time-based measurement for our members, non-members and the press.
Some facts from our perspective:
- FACT: Click-based metrics have resulted in the industry justifying the value of metrics, rather than the metrics proving the value of products.
- FACT: Until 2013, the most common way the industry measured time spent was to approximate the duration of a user visit using server logs.
- FACT: Advancements in technology mean user visits can be measured in real-time, down to every pixel on the screen.
- FACT: Premium publishers are responding by using time-based attention metrics.
- FACT: Time-based metrics create an inventory constraint that will reintroduce scarcity into the market.
Featured Post
Defining Bricks to Build the House of Time and Attention
By Jason Kint, CEO – DCN
This year may go down as one of the most pivotal years in the digital revolution as we transition into an AV world (After Viewability).
Vivek Shah, CEO of Ziff-Davis and Chairman of the IAB did a terrific job earlier this month at IAB MIXX and in a WSJ op-ed reinforcing why viewability is critical, while also explaining the important work that still needs to be done. This coincided with the reconvening of the Blue-Ribbon Committee (which I served on in its first phase to define the standard). It also led to the MRC’s advisory to media, which included important guidelines.