Comscore’s Halo Effect Research was one of the first industry studies to demonstrates that ads appearing on premium content sites deliver significantly higher branding effectiveness than the same ads in non-premium content. Now new research from Group M UK in partnership with Newsworks, the marketing firm for premium newspapers, finds that exposure to advertising on premium sites drives greater engagement, better brand response, and is also more cost effective than the same advertising on the run of the internet. The findings are based on over 28,000 survey responses across 84 campaigns in the UK and 398 million impressions.

Additional findings include advertising with premium publishers means that the message is:

• 14% more likely to be measurable
• 42% more likely to be 100% in view
• 58% more likely to be 100% in view for at least 5 seconds
• 83% more likely to be 80% in view for at least 30 seconds
• 98% more likely to be placed fully above the fold
• 165% more likely to be scrolled fully into view if placed below the fold
• 273% more likely to elicit a user hover

The study also shows that 48% of measurable ads on open exchange are never actually seen. This brings to question the cost per impression calculation. What is the value of an average impression? Perhaps a better calculation for advertisers is one based on the cost per quality impression. This measure is more accurate in identifying effective inventory. In fact, the research shows that advertising in a quality environment is 42% more cost effective than on the run of the internet

Importantly, the positive perception of quality content extends to the ads on the page. The more that readers engage with trustworthy information, the more trusting they are of the ads they see on the premium sites. This research should encourage marketers to think about the cost per quality impression and not just the purchase of low-cost impression.