In an industry obsessed with metrics, Marc Guldimann, co-founder and chief executive of attention-tracking firm Adelaide, is calling time on one of digital advertising’s most entrenched holdouts: viewability.
“I think it’s been widely established that attention is a better proxy for media quality than viewability,” Guldimann said in this interview with Beet.TV contributor David Kaplan. “And it’s a little bit surprising that it’s 2025, we’re still having this conversation about: should I be optimizing my campaigns towards 70% viewability?”
For years, advertisers relied on viewability standards – typically 50% of an ad in view for at least one second – as a benchmark for effectiveness. But Guldimann argues that this approach is outdated and blunt in an era of increasingly nuanced measurement tools.
“What we’ve found is that very consistently, when advertisers use attention metrics like AU to measure and optimize their campaigns, they’re able to drive much more efficient, incremental outcomes,” he said, referring to Adelaide’s proprietary Attention Unit (AU) metric.
From obsolete to opportunity
Guldimann describes viewability as a “really good first attempt,” but ultimately limited in what it reveals about actual user engagement.
“It creates a very obvious outcome from the incentive, which is small ads on big screens that end up not capturing a lot of attention,” he said.
In contrast, attention metrics allow advertisers to look beyond basic visibility to understand which ad placements genuinely engage audiences.
This opens the door to smarter media buying: “They can look for bargains in the market…placements that are undervalued but actually capturing a lot of attention,” he said.
Attention in action
One key partner embracing this model is Kinective Media by United Airlines, which is applying Adelaide’s data across its channels from immersive in-flight entertainment to mobile and connected TV.
“AU enables United to deliver a high-quality, attentive experience no matter what channel they’re reaching their audience on,” Guldimann said.
He even praised United’s internal branding for high-attention formats: “Airplane mode: really high attention. There’s not a lot of distractions. I think that’s a great name for the ad format.”
Beyond targeting, toward quality
Guldimann also pushed back on the obsession with identity-based targeting.
“At Adelaide, we don’t think too much around user identity,” he said. “We just try to help our partners make sure that they’re targeting those audiences through the highest quality media possible.”
AU, he noted, is applicable to about 95% to 97% of a typical advertiser’s spend, giving it a breadth and consistency that’s “apples to apples” across channels.
Redefining accountability
While outcome-based advertising remains the holy grail, Guldimann believes marketers must tread carefully in how they assign responsibility.
“Yes, outcomes are incredibly important. It’s the reason that we do advertising,” he said. “But you don’t want to hold the supply chain accountable to outcomes.”
Instead, he advises advertisers to focus on ensuring their media partners deliver high-quality inventory, while reserving performance expectations for the broader marketing strategy.
“The industry has moved on,” Guldimann said. “At least the leaders, the early adopters – and now even the mid and late adopters – are using attention metrics to get a better understanding of their media quality.”
You’re watching “The Flight to Cannes: Commerce Media Takes Off”, a Beet.TV Leadership Series, presented by Kinective Media by United Airlines. For more videos from this series, please visit this page.
