New study on Saudi online ad-viewing habits released

DUBAI: International advertising group Dentsu has released the results of a new study of the habits of Saudi Arabia and other consumers across five social media platforms including YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat.

The “Unlocking the Currency of Attention KSA” report “is the first in the world which specifically looks at the viewing and retention habits of our Arabic MENA audience,” said Ramzy Abouchacra, media practice president, dentsu MENA.

He added that “it’s set to reshape the way we create and disseminate advertising content” in the Middle East and North Africa region.

The study aims to “bridge the gap between traditional measurement metrics and actual human behavior, offering vital insights into how attention shapes advertising effectiveness,” he told Arab News.

To determine human behavior on social media, the study simulated real-world use of social and video platforms using tools including eye-tracking software and brand-recall exercises, he explained.

The results of the study were then analyzed to understand audiences’ attention spans and the impact of advertising content on consumers, he added.

One of the key findings of the study is that an ad being “viewable” does not guarantee it is “viewed.” The former refers to the opportunity for the ad to be seen whereas the latter ensures the audience has actively viewed the advert.

For example, at least 50 percent of the advert’s pixels should be visible in the browser window for a continuous 1 second for images and 2 seconds for videos.

Abouchacra said the shift to attention and impact is aimed at assessing whether an ad is “viewable,” or made available for someone to view. But also whether it is “viewed,” which means “catching the attention of desired audiences and therefore being actively viewed.”

This richer understanding of how audiences behave and consume content allows advertisers and agencies to better tailor their ad campaigns, he added.

Diving deeper, the study found that even though one platform had an average viewable time of 15.1 seconds, ads were only viewed for approximately 33 percent of that time (5.3 seconds). This suggested that the content did not capture the audience’s attention.

For example, if an ad is not interesting, the viewer might decide to step away resulting in the ad still being played, which in turn would make it viewable. However, it does mean it was not viewed because it did not capture the viewer’s attention.

“A reduction in views doesn’t necessarily mean that someone stepped away from a screen, it could also be that a viewer disconnects from the ad or diverts their attention to something else,” said Abouchacra.

He added that this was “particularly common in the era of multi-screen viewing habits — and therefore the content is not absorbed, reducing its effectiveness.”

Overall, social media content in the Middle East and North Africa region had “lower visibility” compared to international markets, but viewed times across most platforms was higher with an average time of 6 seconds versus a global benchmark of 4.36 seconds, he said.

This implies that audiences in the region are more inclined to watch content for longer, even though they may be presented with less opportunities to see it, Abouchacra added.

The report is another step in Dentsu’s commitment to Saudi Arabia with the network being present in the Kingdom for the last 17 years. This year it opened a regional headquarters in Riyadh in addition to the pre-existing office in Jeddah.

In a separate interview, Tarek Daouk, CEO of Dentsu’s recently created Middle East, North Africa and Turkiye operation, told Arab News the company wants to create a “locational and cultural hub connecting East and West.”

This would provide the “opportunity for local clients to expand globally, and international clients to engage with the growth opportunities within the Kingdom and beyond,” said Daouk.