Announcing AU Ecosystem for Publishers
Along the way, AU has become the most popular metric in the attention economy. AU swept the 2024 AdExchanger Measurement Awards, and Adelaide became the first pure-play attention vendor to enter MRC review.
Today, Adelaide is excited to announce AU Ecosystem, a set of tools and services that brings together these clients and partners in a marketplace.
AU Ecosystem connects media sellers, buyers, agencies, measurement vendors, and partners who leverage AU to create a shared understanding of media quality.
"At the Financial Times, we use Adelaide’s AU metric to identify and package only the highest-attention inventory across our platforms. By curating deals based on media quality—not just impressions—we’re able to offer advertisers a more transparent, outcome-oriented path to performance. This ensures your display campaigns have the best possible opportunity to influence engaged audiences in premium environments with the Financial Times."
Adelaide makes it easy for publishers to cover the cost of measuring campaigns on their inventory. Many publishers have found that offsetting measurement costs builds trust with advertisers and drives incremental demand from brands that prioritize media quality.
42 publishers, including Condé Nast, Hearst, and The New York Times, currently offer free AU measurement on campaigns.
Our audits provide detailed AU ratings across placements. These insights empower publishers to better understand inventory quality and optimize delivery for campaigns measured by Adelaide.
Adelaide has completed 45 publisher audits covering 10 channels in the past 18 months.
Audit data enables publishers to package high-AU inventory into direct or programmatic deals. By combining AU media quality insights with audience or contextual signals, publishers can create differentiated offerings that showcase their highest quality placements.
Over 15 publishers, including The Wall Street Journal and Spotify, and five SSPs are in market with high-AU inventory packages. Advertisers have seen a 60% increase in AU when using these products.
A growing number of advertisers want to transact using AU metrics. Since AU scores are consistent across impressions at the placement level, audit data enables publishers to confidently offer advertisers guaranteed media quality.
The Wall Street Journal pioneered attention guarantees with a flight of six successful tests during the 2024 presidential campaign, and Adelaide is in conversations with more than 10 additional publishers who will launch products this year.
“Adelaide has been instrumental in helping CBC/Radio-Canada demonstrate the true value of our premium inventory. Their attention metrics provide the evidence we need to show advertisers and agencies that our platforms deliver not just views, but real attention, leading to stronger campaign outcomes."
“Today’s marketers demand greater transparency and more advanced measurement tools, and Hearst Magazines is proud to be part of that evolution. Our clients are at the heart of our innovation strategy, and strategic partnerships like this represent our commitment to leveraging next-generation technologies and attention-based metrics to deliver greater accountability, enhanced media quality, and lasting impact in an ever-changing landscape."
“At National CineMedia, we’ve always known that cinema captivates audiences in a way few mediums can. By leveraging Adelaide’s AU metric, we’re now able to quantify that attention and guarantee the media quality we deliver. This partnership empowers our brand partners with clear, evidence-based insights that demonstrate cinema’s impact across the funnel.”
“At National Public Media (NPM), the sponsorship subsidiary of NPR, we understand that the NPR audience lean into the content they engage with across NPR platforms. We’re thrilled to be a part of the AU Ecosystem and work with Adelaide on their attention metric, which is bringing a new shared understanding to the industry on how effective audio can be for brands. It’s giving us a common metric that proves and reinforces what we and the hundreds of brands that we work with already know about the power of audio.”
“We’re incredibly proud to join Adelaide’s AU Ecosystem alongside a select group of premium publishers leading the charge in attention-based media. At Overwolf, our mission has always been to connect brands with gamers in lean-forward moments of deep focus and immersion—when attention is at its peak.
Adelaide’s AU measurement validates what we’ve long known: Overwolf’s 100M+ monthly gaming users are among the most highly engaged audiences in digital media. This new partnership reinforces our commitment to transparency, accountability, and media quality, while providing global brands, agencies, DSPs, and SSPs a trusted path to premium, high-attention inventory during and beyond playtime.”