Australian brands are losing 63 cents in every social media dollar to low-attention formats
New AttentionAI modelling reveals that 70% of social spend sits in fast-decay formats, where reallocating budget to higher-attention environments could unlock up to A$900,000 in additional brand-building value on a A$10 million spend, without increasing cost or reducing reach.
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - Australian advertisers may be losing 63 cents in every social media dollar* on advertising that audiences do not actively watch, according to new research from attention measurement firm Amplified.
The study found that 70 per cent* of the average Australian social media budget is concentrated in the lowest-attention environments measured - formats where approximately two-thirds* of viewers disengage within three seconds of an ad appearing.
Conducted by Amplified founder and media scientist Dr Karen Nelson-Field, the research marks the first time AttentionAI has been applied to real Australian campaigns simultaneously across all four major social platforms. The study evaluated 69 advertising assets* from eight major Australian advertisers and reveals a substantial gap between the impressions advertisers pay for and the active, eyes-on attention their advertising actually receives.
Advertisers are paying for impressions, not attention
Measuring active, eyes-on attention at impression level using Amplified's AttentionAI, trained on real human attention data captured through eye-tracking, the research reveals a structural gap between the impressions advertisers pay for and the active attention their advertising actually receives.
Across the social feeds assessed, the study found just 2.4 to 2.8 active attention seconds* per impression on average - equivalent to 21 to 24 per cent* of ad duration. Viewer retention fell sharply in these environments: approximately two-thirds* of the audience disengaged within the first three seconds, with only 8 to 10 per cent* remaining by the end of the ad.
A key measurement finding adds further weight to the concern: time-in-view - a widely used industry metric - overstated active viewing in feed environments by between 1.5 and 2.5 times*. An ad can be technically on-screen without being genuinely seen.
"Active, eyes-on attention is one of the strongest signals marketers have for understanding whether advertising has a real opportunity to influence brand-choice outcomes,” said Dr Nelson-Field. "This research shows the allocation problem is systemic. The majority of Australian social budgets are weighted toward the lowest-attention environments in the mix. The opportunity is not to spend more - it is to recover value from the budget already committed."
Media environment sets the attention opportunity
Among the study's more significant findings is the role of placement over creative. When the research team compared advertising specifically built for each platform against repurposed assets running in the same placement, there was no meaningful difference in active attention*.
"What our data shows, consistently, is that the hierarchy of attention starts with platform and placement - not creative," said Dr Nelson-Field. "An advertiser can invest heavily in bespoke, platform-native assets, but if those assets run in a low-attention environment, the investment in creative does will likely not recover the attention loss. Conversely, a strong creative has a better opportunity to earn and retain attention when it appears in environments that give it enough time and space to work. That has significant implications for where brands should be directing their production budgets."
Snapchat delivers nearly three times more active attention
Of the platforms assessed, Snapchat delivered the highest level of active attention: 7.8 seconds per impression*, representing 62 per cent* of ad duration. Snapchat retained 74 per cent* of viewers at three seconds and 50 per cent* through to the end of the ad. By comparison, the other social feeds measured retained 24 to 32 per cent of viewers at three seconds and just 8 to 10 per cent by the end.
On a cost basis, Snapchat delivered active attention at A$0.45 per 1,000 active-attention-seconds* - up to five times more cost-efficiently* than other platforms in the study.
When calibrated against Amplified's global library of 184 campaigns*, Snapchat generated 4.29 predicted brand-choice uplift points per dollar spent* - approximately four times higher* than other social feeds and seven times higher* than premium video in the study.
A $900,000 opportunity within existing budgets
Amplified modelled the impact of reweighting an existing Australian social plan toward higher-attention environments. A shift of plus or minus 30 per cent - within normal planning tolerances - produced an 11.1 per cent increase* in active attention per reach and a 9.3 per cent improvement* in predicted brand-lift efficiency.
On an illustrative A$10 million social plan, this reallocation equates to approximately A$900,000* in additional brand-building value, with no increase in total spend and no loss of audience reach*.
Ryan Ferguson, Managing Director, Snap Inc. ANZ, said the findings should prompt a straightforward conversation in every marketing team.
"Most brands aren't losing because they don't have enough budget - they're losing because a big chunk of what they're already spending isn't being seen," said Ferguson. "What this data gives you is a practical way to fix that without spending a dollar more. On a $10 million plan, we're talking about $900,000 in brand-building value that's already sitting in the budget. You just have to put it somewhere it actually gets noticed."
This study marks the first step in a proposed ongoing framework between Snapchat and Amplified designed to help Australian advertisers translate attention insights into more effective planning, creative and campaign outcomes.
About Amplified
Amplified is a global leader in media measurement and attention economy research, founded by media scientist Dr Karen Nelson-Field. Utilising advanced biometric technology and AI modelling, Amplified provides independent, transparent data to help brands, agencies, and platforms quantify the true value of human attention in advertising.
* Research Methodology: The research evaluated campaign effectiveness across the Australian social landscape using Amplified's proprietary attention measurement tools:
- Creative Sample: 69 video creative assets from 8 major Australian advertisers across key consumer categories were evaluated across four primary social channels (Snapchat, Meta, TikTok, and YouTube).
- Attention Measurement: Powered by Amplified’s attentionAI technology, which combines biometric signals, human eye-tracking data, and frame-by-frame creative codification (motion, text, faces, and objects) to predict second-by-second active (eyes-on-screen), passive, and non-attention.
- Audience Simulation: 20,000 unique viewing personas were simulated per creative asset, generating over 1.38 million simulated viewing interactions to construct panel-grade attention decay curves per platform.
- Market Modelling: Modeled against a representative Australian social plan spend split (40 per cent Meta, 30 per cent TikTok, 20 per cent Snapchat, 10 per cent YouTube) using local CPM benchmarks.
- Outcome Calibration: Linked attention scores to brand growth outcomes using Amplified’s global calibration library of 184 campaigns to calculate Short-Term Advertising Strength (STAS) and brand-choice uplift per dollar.
Not all impressions are equal, and reach doesn’t guarantee engagement. Amplified’s Campaign Strategy tools use real human attention metrics to help you predict and optimise media performance before launch.
Your campaign's already live, great. But even the best executions can benefit from a fresh lens. Amplified’s in-flight attention measurement gives you clear, science-backed insights into how your creative and placements are performing while there's still time to level-up results.
Through bespoke research studies, we help brands, agencies and platforms measure attention where it matters most, across TV, social, CTV, DOOH and more. This in-depth research helps you ensure that your media investments are seen, engaged with, and delivering true impact.
Test, refine and optimise with attention-first insights. From creative testing to bespoke data analysis, we help brands, agencies and platforms improve performance.
Amplified offers flexible, API-driven integrations, making it easy to activate real human attention data within your existing platforms and tools. Whether you’re an agency, publisher, platform or brand, our integrations ensure attention insights are directly embedded into your workflow, powering smarter, more effective decision-making.
If you’re looking to take attention beyond a one-off study or standard integration, a partnership with Amplified unlocks exclusive access to research, insights, technology and strategic collaboration that transforms how you measure, plan and execute media.
.webp)
.webp)
.webp)
.webp)
.webp)