Facebook, Fake News and Research

A few weeks ago Facebook launched Prime Time Anytime at a major quotVideo Effectivenessquotamp160event that brought together and I quoteamp160quotThe brightest minds in research insights and product to share information that will help advertisers and agencies drive brand performance on and off of Facebook and Instagramquotamp160amp160Two of these brightest minds shared the results of an eyetracking study designed to provide insights into how viewers39 attention vacillated between what was on the TV and what was on the mobile device in front of themSo far so amp8230 well okayamp160 Participants were of course aware that they were being monitored so their actions might have been a tad unnatural as the study39s authoramp160Professor Jonathan Freeman admittedamp160 And the sample was biased young amp160something FB stated though theyamp160didn39t explain what if anything they had done about itamp160 And quoteye trackingquotamp160suggests the sort of work Lumen have pioneered that tracks eye movements across a screen This was more quothead trackingquotamp160 It had nothing to do with how respondents39 eyes move over a screenWhere things did cross the line between something interesting to something plain wrong came when Greta Baisch of Facebook tried to equate attention levels defined by quoteyequotamp160movements with viewability as defined by the IAB39s famous and indeed fatuous quot50 in view for at least twoamp160secondsquotamp160ruleamp160 Actually they didn39t even do that the 50 in view bit was dropped to focus on the twoamp160seconds part of the equationGreta39s explanation almost embarrassing to watch was that 30 of all TV ads get no visual attention at allamp160 Nothing here on audio by the way despite the fact that even the most junior marketer will be aware that TV is an audiovisual mediumamp160 Then she moved on to say quotIf you wanted to apply a likeforlike comparison you could probably arguequot that only 60 of TV ads make it to the twosecond level applied to online videoGreta39s coyness suggests that she could sense her research credibility falling even as she went through what sounded very like a speech within which the PR angle had trumped researchIt might be worth pointing out the weaknesses in her argumentFacebook confusedamp160attention on the screen with viewabilityamp160 They are not the same thingFacebook compared exposure to ads on a TV set with exposure to content of whatever type on a mobile deviceFacebook didamp160not mention the IAB39s 50 principle 100 of an ad seen on a TV set is viewableIf Facebook had really wanted to make a comparison of any sort then surely it should have been between ads on TV 100 viewable with ads on FB on mobile screens also at the 100 viewable levelSadly it seems that Facebook prefers to confuse by false comparisons rather than shed light on how to use complimentary media forms in concert No one is going to argue that social media and TV can39t work well togetherIn case I was missing something I asked my favorite brightest research mind Richard Marksamp160 Here39s what he said quotThe key conclusion Facebook draws is that 39the assumption that TV ads are 100 viewable doesn39t add up39amp160 That may well be the case but it39s a logic leap as this project focuses not on viewability but attentionquotIn the UK Facebook is currently running a campaign on OOH and within the deadtree media stating quotFake News Is Not Our FriendquotFake research comparisons on the other hand amp8230Click the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Facebook, Fake News and Research

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Brian Jacobs

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Facebook, Fake News and Research

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