Your Attention Span is the new currency

May I suggest that a new metric on the web be called
*Value of Attention Span Spent* or VASS. This metric would look at the value users derive out of spending time with web sites. This is different than *time spent*, *page views* or *market share* because it points to the value equation that a person gets from giving a web site (or any technology) their attention. Attention span is the new currency on the web and quite possibility the scarcest resource, in fact more scarce than money or eyeballs. Those companies that strive to keep the VASS metric weighted so that the visitor derives an equal or higher value in exchange for their attention/time will reap rewards. Conversely, if the value derived is perceived as less than the attention span given, then user dissatisfaction and quite possibility defection will begin.

We can look at some examples to see the differences in this metric. Traditional advertising would see a low VASS metric as people find less and less value in ads that are not targeted and relevant. Because of this, the attention span people allot to traditional ads is not fairly exchanged with the value received. In the television broadcast world, TIVO found a business in placing value back into the equation between the viewer and content by allowing viewers to optimize their *attention span spent* by skipping ads. On the web, you can look at sites like del.icio.us as delivering a high VASS with its users. You can run tons of examples with good sites but the metric is there in all cases. Even if the attention span spent is short to micro, the value exchange is constantly being calculated by each user who experiences the service or web site on a rolling and repeat basis.

While the examples of traditional advertising and del.icio.us support the point, the real opportunity lie in the grey areas – say for example social networking. Most social networks will tout rising statistics in areas such as time spent, page views, etc. However, inside most of these walled gardens, there is a real notion that users work to maintain their invitations and content – social network fatigue and invitation management have now surfaced as real issues. If you look at this through the VASS metric, there may be a decrease in VASS happening here as users find less value on some social networks for their time spent. Facebook, I think recognizes this, and as a result opened up. Opening up to outside developers has allowed Facebook to leverage outside resources to offer its users lots of cool applications. This gave Facebook users more variety to choose from and ultimately ways to increase the value exchange when they burn attention span on the site.

At Outbrain, we are keenly aware of this value exchange with people who rate content and thus we strive to offer a service that delivers a high VASS to our partners and their end users. We know that attention span is scarce and getting more so. Our mission is to leverage the power of ratings and mix it with some *secret sauce* on the backend to help people optimize the time they spend consuming blog posts and other article-ish type content on the web. We think that helping people optimize their attention span spent on content - coupled with a bit of serendipity along the way - will keep us on the positive side of the metric VASS (value of attention span spent) - with all our partners and fellow raters.

If you made it this far, please use the 5 stars below to rate your VASS (value of attention span spent) from reading this post.

The Lion, the Knife and the abstract

Art Over Lunch #2

James Stroud is an emerging artist in the nature genre because of his unique method of capturing his subjects. James largely uses the palette knife to create abstract images of Africa's most engaging animals. I actually had the pleasure to see some of James' work in one of the world's premiere nature galleries on Las Olas Blvd in Ft. Lauderale named "Call of Africa." My first impression was most memorable as bursts of color and surprising shapes kept altering my inclination to see the animals in a typical realist setting. These images don't compare to a face to face encounter being toe to toe with the canvas, but if you look close, you will see the wonderful tapestry James weaves with color delivered with a palette knife. Those textured colors on the elephant's and lion's head are not brush strokes. As a frame of reference, think about James next time you pick up a butter knife and imagine the handwork it would take to accomplish this. Inspiring for me.

"Room please!"...by the hour...in the airport

I have to admit a slight disappointment when I found this company called Yotel. After so many repeated lengthy delays in airports over the last 10 years I have always wanted the ability to get away from the terminal and retreat - but not go through the hassle of leaving the terminal. This idea is just what Yotel is delivering. Simply, you can rent a room in the airport by the hour that has a clean, upscale bed, flat screen tv, shower, room service, internet connection, toilet and other amenities. Brilliant. My prediction - this company will be bought by a larger hospitality brand. They are live in Gatwick, London and rolling out to Heathrow and Amsterdam coming up. Aside from their current offerings - would I pay an extra $10 to run on a cross trainer for 30 minutes, then retire to my room, shower and either work, listen to my ipod or watch a movie? You bet. Hopefully Yotel has their ear on the blogoshere. C'mon Simon - prove your concept and cross the pond. We're ready in America when you are.

Glacier Surfing Alaska

Picture the scene - cold Alaskan days, debris floating all around, (keep in mind that everything in Alaska is over sized), melting glaciers, deceiving calm water, sudden avalanches of ice and rock falling into the seemingly calm water, mini tidal waves and ..........................surfers? Love it! This is breaking new ground.

Can You Hear Africa?

ART OVER LUNCH #1

"Art Over Lunch" is the subtitle for a frequent installment that you will see on my blog. This section of my blog will feature artists that move me in some significant way. I thought long and hard about which artist I would open with and decided that Peter Beard would show first.

This is one of so many amazing works from Peter Beard, titled "Elui With Tusk". Having spent several months in Africa including Botswana, Peter's version of the red continent helps me make sense of what my experience was there and how if effects me still.

Aside from the beautiful yet tragic photographic image shown front and center, pay attention to the detail surrounding the photo. Follow this link to see an enlarged version of the work. Once here go ahead and rotate your head so you can follow the graphical storyline that unfolds around the photo. Here you will see typical overtones of sexual energy, violence, beauty and chaos - all elements that reign in Africa today. Peter's works move me because he captures the constant push and pull that Africa, its people and its wildlife struggle with everyday. Peter's chronology is filled with glamour, fame, models, dignitaries etc. but I what I value most is the voice he brings to Africa and the help he has offered me - and no doubt countless others -in trying to understand the forces on the red continent.

help needed in a book store

While traveling recently I was of course delayed in the airport. (See worse airline summer since 2000 - courtesy NEWSDAY). I wandered into the book store as did thousands of others that day. When I walked in to the book store inside the terminal, the choices were daunting to say the least. At that same moment I heard 2 ladies speaking to each other – they were *saying* the same thing I was* thinking.* They were saying things like “I wonder if this book is good?”, “Do you think I would like this one?” Besides a few metrics like the NYT Best Seller List, Oprah's Book Club List or seasonal selections made by staff there was really no way for these ladies to put the myriad of titles in any general or personal context while in the store. The only real systematic help comes from the store’s section labels that tell you what section you’re looking at. Hearing these ladies trying to make sense out of the thousand of choices staring back at them made me think of our mission here at Outbrain.

For the sake of comparison if you think of online articles like the books in the bookstore, we are working feverishly to help you sort through the myriad of online choices presented to you daily to find and float the good stuff that you will like. Going back to the ladies in the book store, just picture how different their experience would have been if there was a widely used rating system on books. Think what their experience would be if the books carried personal ratings that helped them find books that matched their personal preferences. This has been deployed online and with good success at sites like Amazon.com but that still strands millions of book buyers who are in the aisles every day. I know that this game of hunting for a good book is part of the brick and mortar experience, but as the younger generations keep coming up, my feeling is that burning time hunting for a good book will not be as acceptable.

Although I couldn’t help the ladies in the bookstore or myself for that matter, I do take great pride in knowing that I am helping to build out the plumbing for an online rating system that shows what the crowd thinks of an article - before your read it - and even better - how you may like it from a personal perspective. I guess the bottom line here is that you may still have to spend more time in the aisles looking for a good book, but hopefully we can save you some time online by finding the good stuff for you.

we need “Initial Brand Experience Directors”

What kind of title is this – many will ask. Is this a joke? Actually it’s hardly a joke, and actually a real need. Think about how many times you opened the box of a new product or downloaded a new program, or signed up for a new service and you had problems. This is the worst experience as a consumer and one that makes us the angriest right? Just looking at my world, this has happened to me twice in the last several days with a highly reputable software product and a leading laptop manufacturer. In reality problems are rampant with consumers when they interact with the things they buy for the first time. Most companies do not pay much attention to what happens at the point of initial experience. Yet everyone knows how important first impressions are. People do not go on dates or meet people for the first time and not pay close attention to the first interactions. People learn very fast when they make others feel uncomfortable, disappointed or unhappy on a first impression.

So why don’t companies feel the same? I think they should. If they were paying attention to the initial brand experience – or first impression – then they would start to take notice of how people are reacting to their brand from the very start. What’s worse is that if you ignore the initial reaction, then you are not able to monitor or measure a very powerful metric – the voice of a disgruntled consumer upon a negative or disappointing initial brand experience. We have all been there – the initial excitement of a new purchase is instantly replaced by anger and disappointment when something goes wrong or you feel confused. What do you do next – like most people you tell anyone who will listen. Does this hurt a company’s brand? Absolutely. No company intentionally wants their new customers to feel disappointed but few try to minimize it at the initial point of impact.

This type of negative work of mouth damage can be controlled and actually turned around. The first step is to recognize that the initial brand experience of your customers is worthy of monitoring and critical to overall net long term health of your brand. How do you go about it – appoint an “Initial Brand Experience Director.” My prediction is that within the first few months, the right person can correct many of the obvious causes that make first time buyers upset. I know such a person can help the two companies that I had issues with by simply asking a few basic questions. We all know that companies want happy buyers – but to complete the value equation we consumers want to stay happy once we interact for the first time with what we bought. Maybe a new social network can spur this movement with suggestions on how companies can improve their first impression.