Google suited up people with special biometric monitoring equipment to test how well YouTube ads affect them. According to New Media Age [excerpt]: “YouTube users are 1.5 times more attentive and engaged in advertising than TV viewers, according to research conducted in partnership with General Motors Europe, Motorola, media agency MindShare and the Online Testing Exchange (OTX). The research used eye tracking and biometric data to reveal the brand impact of advertising on YouTube. It found recall and attribution for an ad viewed was up to 14% higher than watching the same ad on TV. Viewing a silent ad on YouTube in addition to a normal TV ad also improved ad recall and attribution.
Ads on YouTube can impact the perceptions of elusive audiences like young men and infrequent TV viewers. They also have a halo effect and increase brand perceptions such as innovative, cool, dynamic and unconventional.”
Google measured such metrics as heart rate, physical movement, respiration rate, and skin conductance.
NMA: Ads on YouTube have higher impact than on TV. Danielle Long. NMA. December 18, 2008 [sub. required]
