Measuring Super Bowl 50’s Top TV Ads with TV Attribution

Each year, hundreds of millions of us gather around TVs to watch America’s big game — the Super Bowl. And for many, the TV commercials are at least or maybe even more interesting than the game itself. Companies annually spend millions of dollars trying to entertain us or tug at our heartstrings. For these advertisers, it is straight up, unabashed brand advertising. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

However, other advertisers are looking to accomplish something much different. The goal of their ads is to pique your interest, get you to find out more about the product, and yes, maybe even make a purchase. In a word, their success is based on creating “intent.” Unfortunately, understanding the impact of TV advertising based on consumer response has historically been difficult at best.

Enter the second screen. According to a recent report by Accenture, 87% of consumers use a second screen device (laptop, tablet, phone) while watching TV. The result is a direct connection between TV commercials and digital activity including search queries, search clicks, and direct website visits. Adometry TV Attribution uses machine-learning techniques to model this minute-by-minute response data and estimate the incremental impact of each unique TV spot at very granular level. In essence, it allows you to measure TV just like digital.

So, how did the TV ads from Super Bowl 50 fare when measured by Adometry TV Attribution? From a response perspective, this year’s top TV commercials are:


A much different list than that of AdvertisingAge’s top rated commercials based on creative. For a complete rundown of the TV Attribution results, check out the full article on Think with Google which includes a complete list of the top ten Super Bowl commercials, along with response volume by quarter and device. 

The takeaway? For those investing in TV advertising with the goal of creating intent, you also need an effective strategy to capture and engage consumers on their second screens. In doing so, your consumers will have a much better experience and you’ll see even bigger ROI.

Posted by Casey Carey, Google Analytics team