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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.

23 of 174 comments (clear)

  1. Millenial attention span, in general.. by intellitech · · Score: 5, Funny

    ..is around 5 to 6 seconds. At least, mine is.

    --
    vos nescitis quicquam, nec cogitatis quia expedit nobis ut unus moriatur homo pro populo et non tota gens pereat.
  2. I'm way older, I have zero attention for ads. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Fuck ads. Fuck people who make boring, standard advertising. You are worth none of my time.

  3. Perhaps by pushing-robot · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's not a matter of attention span but the time it takes to remind yourself "I wouldn't have time for this and I'm broke anyway."

    --
    How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
    1. Re:Perhaps by Freischutz · · Score: 3, Interesting

      It's not a matter of attention span but the time it takes to remind yourself "I wouldn't have time for this and I'm broke anyway."

      If I recall correctly 4 (or is it 5?) seconds is the time you have to endure a commercial on YouTube before you can skip the ad so a 5-6 second attention span sounds about right. If I were trying to advertise under those time constraints the first two thirds of the ad would consist of a loud commanding voice saying: "Do you need X? Well then get off your ass and buy Y!" or something to that effect. The remainder of the ad time would be consumed by a voice quickly blurting out the following: "And here is an extra second of ad for you to skip so you don't feel cheated.". The problem with all these ad services is that they don't show me what I'm interested in even when they manage to cram their message into a 4-5 second package. I sit there watching documentaries about sword fighting, medieval history, Classical history, palaeontology, relativistic space travel, documentaries about all manner of phenomena in space, .... etc. I'm usually logged in on YouTube so you'd think Google ingenious advertising algorithms would be able to target ads at my interests given my very specific YouTube viewing history. You'd think I'd be flooded with ads trying to sell me swords, armour, history books, the collective works of Isaac Asimov and Frank Herbert, trips to Florida or French Guiana to tour the NASA/ESA space ports but nooooooo... I get ads for ridiculous online games, Chinese pop music, Illumibowl toilet lights....

  4. 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.

  5. No. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    5 to 6 seconds for ads?

    WTF is wrong with them?

    No. Ads get maybe half a second while I'm finding the blocking script that they made it past.

  6. 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.'"
  7. Ads? by Excelcia · · Score: 5, Funny

    Millennials have a 6 second attention span for anything. Including writi

  8. Not a millennial thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    I have a 0 second attention span for ads, because advertisement sucks and is a waste of time and space. The brands I remember being shoved in my face? I go out of my way to pay more for something else because FUCK advertisers.

  9. Could have just left off "For Ads"... by tlambert · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Could have just left off "For Ads"...

    Just saying...

  10. Blipverts by mentil · · Score: 5, Interesting

    So, Blipverts are the future? This explains why Youtube is killing the 30-second ad in favor of shorter ads, though.

    --
    Corruption is convincing someone that the selfless ideal is the same as their selfish ideal.
    1. Re:Blipverts by spire3661 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Nice. I was really hoping to see Max Headroom pop back up for the modern era. When watching that show I distinctly remember thinking: "Wait a minute, how can corporations be more powerful than the government?". I wish i could go back to that innocence.....

      --
      Good-bye
  11. Re:29... 28... Goodbye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

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

  12. Re:29... 28... Goodbye by grim4593 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I've been induated with ads for so long that I automatically phase them out unless it is something I am interested in. On ad spammy sites like click through articles I don't even see ad banners anymore. For unskippable video ads I just move over to another browser tab until it is over.

  13. 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...

  14. 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.
  15. Millennials have that long an attention span? by Jason1729 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'm quite a bit older than millennials, and I sure don't have a 5-6 second attention span for ads. The reason I became a cord cutter was all the obnoxious ads exploding across the bottom on the screen for 5-6 seconds. If that's what they're going to do, I don't care to view their content for free much less pay for it.

  16. 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.

  17. Re:multi-tasking by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    T&A

    That's called multi-tasking, the focus shifts every 5-6 seconds from Tits to Ass then back again.

    Six seconds later, it's all over, the monitor.

  18. I have a 0 second attention span for ads. by waspleg · · Score: 3, Informative

    Your company is not entitled to my time, bandwidth, nor attention.

    On browsers: uBlock Origin, HTTPS Everywhere, Privacy Badger.

    On my home network: pfSense firewall sits between Comcast and everything else. pfBlockerng + DNSBL

    They are configured with multiple host list sources, it's the best thing I've ever done for adblocking. It stops all the shit from getting on my SmartTV which is locked down and auto-updates but it doesn't fucking play ads in the youtube app or anywhere else but TV from the antenna.

  19. 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