Hapu the weaver may have been the first advertiser, around 3000 BC in Thebes. His notice offered a gold reward for a runaway slave, then casually added that his shop made “the most beautiful canvases in all of Thebes.” His genius was not just the line but the placement: he put his message inside something people were already motivated to read. Long before attention, viewability, or brand safety became separate metrics, Hapu was solving the larger problem of Impression Quality: getting the right message into the right moment.
Beyond Attention: What Makes an Ad Impression Work Best?
