There are a few reports on the web, that Google are now analysing brainwaves as part of the metrics for YouTube advertising… better known as neuromarketing?
Apparently, with help from NeuroFocus, Google (and MediaVest) have done some research to assess and evaluate the impact of their newly released overlay ads on YouTube clips.
The results are very interesting… here’s a snippet from the MediaPost article:
The firm used biometric measures such as brainwave activity, eye-tracking and skin response to gauge the impact of ads. Based on criteria including attention level, emotional engagement and memory retention, it then comes up with an overall “effectiveness” score for ads.
The study revealed that viewers found overlays “compelling and engaging,” generating high attention and emotional engagement levels across different brands and types of video. On a one to 10 scale, the ads scored a 6.6 in effectiveness, which is considered showing “a high effect.
The combination of overlays with companion banners also grabbed users’ attention more than banner ads alone, scoring a 6.6 compared to a 6.3 for just banners. The overlay-display combo was also found to improve brand response over banners alone, based on study participants’ brainwave activity.
It’s quite clear that this research was done as a way for Google to build the case for more advertisers pushing their brands and products on YouTube overlays…. in an attempt to plug the big gap in YouTube revenues.
This analysis is quite an interesting step, but does the measurement of subconscious reactions to brands being ‘compelling and engaging’ present enough of a case for an advertiser? The assumption is that the measurement of these responses will remove any cognitive bias and will actually present a true response to priming and assimilation. So, are we about to see this metric used more often to measure brand awareness? will anyone come up with a way to measure the value of this awareness and it’s impact on conversion?
You can read more about this research on MediaPost and SearchEngine Land… and more on neuromarketing here.
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