For years, digital advertising has treated attention metrics like a kindergarten participation trophy. If people stopped scrolling, surely the campaign worked. If they clicked, even better. If someone in marketing called the creative "thumb-stopping," the budget probably got renewed.
A new analysis of more than 80,000 Meta video ads suggests reality is considerably less flattering.
The study, released by creator marketing platform Billo, examined 80,069 video ads that generated roughly $105 million in advertising spend and $206 million in sales across 14 industries during the second half of 2025. The headline finding is one that may cause discomfort in conference panels devoted to attention measurement: attention and revenue often have very little to do with one another.