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Impressions aren't actual views or interactions. It's basically the number of times the ad was loaded and had the potential to be viewed. It's really a dumb statistic that has a huge number that looks good on a case study.
Chief
This technically could be one person seeing it 11 billion times. Which, if you’ve ever had the Hulu with commercials, you would know that is totally feasible.
Rising Star
A person might not act until the 10th time they've seen something, theoretically
Yeah... I would be way more interested in knowing how many people went to the drive thru thing for instance, but I suppose that part is better if no one knows.
First, you need to understand what the measurement of an impression is and how they are reported. Most tools give a UVM (unique monthly visitors) as an impression average by article.
So, let’s imagine you get TWO independent articles in a publication. Many firms will just double the UVM in reporting—because you can hit eyeballs of one person more than once. Some will pull UVMs to syndications—original article publish number, number tied to associated newsletter readership and more.
Yes, it’s a bloated number. Also feasible.
I appreciate the comments explaining how impressions are made but I already know that.
My critique is, knowing we all know how they are made.... Why brag about a number that is barely indicative of any kind of ROI or impact on growth. It's just.... The biggest number we have to show people even though it means barely anything.
Don’t hate the players, hate the game?
Why do people on this industry do anything? Because it’s worked and been rewarded—and for everyone of those case studies there is a PR/Comms person who has asked if there’s a more thoughtful way to report who is met with a CCO or CEO who tell them to shut up and report the largest number.
At least PRWeek has come out saying directly that impressions are the lowest lifeform of a success metric.