Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Millennials Only Have a 5 To 6 Second Attention Span For Ads (cnbc.com)

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the act-surprised dept.

Reader schwit1 writes: If you're an advertiser who wants to market a product to millennials, you're going to have to make it quick. A new study by comScore revealed online ads targeted toward millennials have to be around 5 to 6 seconds to be effective, a sharp contrast from the traditional 30-second commercial seen on TV. "The length of time of an episode or a viewing period is really important and has got to be short, otherwise you just won't keep the attention of millennials," comScore CEO Gian Fulgoni told CNBC's "Squawk Alley." The format of advertising may have to be radically changed to reach millennials, he suggested. "You're going to have to make your case literally in a matter of seconds and make sure you grab somebody's attention, Fulgoni said.

10 of 174 comments (clear)

  1. 29... 28... Goodbye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    As far as I'm concerned, you get 15 seconds. If your ads aren't over in 15 seconds and my video hasn't started yet, I'm clicking away.

    1. Re:29... 28... Goodbye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      As far as I'm concerned, you get nothing. I block ALL ads.

    2. Re:29... 28... Goodbye by Highdude702 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I didn't used to block all ads, but than they started hiding content behind them and the malicious ads and all of the other horrible shit the ad companies allow.. Now I figure fuck them and their money. I used to have no issue with ads on a page I was viewing but as soon as you think you can be abusive with them.. All bets are off.

    3. Re:29... 28... Goodbye by apoc.famine · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I've been here for a looooong time. After midnight in a quiet lab, somewhere around 1999. Hopped over to Yahoo, and I got a blaring Chevy Silverado ad. Auto-play flash, full volume. It was right then that I began figuring out how to disable flash and do click-to-play. That quickly lead into adblocking as well, and that's history. I do not suffer abusive relationships.
       
      Since then, I've been immensely happy with my web experience. When I try to use other people's machines, it just hurts. The pop-ups, adware, browser hijacks....I don't know how they can actually live like that. It's the digital equivalent of a meth making trailer park run by carnies.

      --
      Velociraptor = Distiraptor / Timeraptor
  2. Doesn't everyone? by Gussington · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I can't even stand the 5 seconds youtube makes you watch an ad before you can skip it. There's a reason adblockers are so popular, and it isn't only Millenials.

  3. I have zero. by ckatko · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I literally don't care about your ads. I'll mute them the second they come on. And if I remember an ad, I go out of my way to NOT purchase their product.

    "Hmm, I heard big mac today. I'm craving a big mac. Guess I'm not going."

    1. Re:I have zero. by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I literally don't care about your ads. I'll mute them the second they come on. And if I remember an ad, I go out of my way to NOT purchase their product.

      Well, to be fair, that's a kind of caring. It's just not the kind they want. I feel precisely the same way. Anyone who shits on my mind with an advertising jingle or some pictures of fake food passed off as something they're selling deserves only my contempt, not my dollars.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  4. Wrong conclusion by Baron_Yam · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's not a 6 second attention span for ads before they get bored and move on, it's a 6 second tolerance of ads before the annoyance is worth the effort of avoiding the ad.

    But they already know that, which is why they play games with making the ads harder to avoid or skip instead of making short and clever attention-getting spots. They want to burn that brand into your head before you can press or click anything.

    Its why we have fights over commercial-skipping DVRs, why we have banners across the bottom of the screen, and why we have product placement.

    1. Re:Wrong conclusion by aktw · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Obviously the advertising CEO would rather place blame on millennials than acknowledge a problem with his industry...

  5. No Time by PopeRatzo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Not having the patience for ads is not the same as having a short attention span. Maybe millennials are just a little more savvy than former generations and realize that all marketing is toxic horseshit.

    This story actually makes me optimistic for future generations.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.