Developing
The infographic omits that YouTube sessions counted after 30 seconds and premium sessions required five minutes, and that three of four figures are indices.
In 60 seconds
- VAB's "Spot the Difference" infographic draws on The Impression Gap, produced with TVision and released February 24, 2026; fieldwork ran July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025.
- Headline figures: co-viewing +33% (60% versus 45%), presence +5%, attention to presence +14% and attention to duration +18%.
- The method uses in-room sensors with person and facial recognition, a digital meter and automatic content recognition across "thousands of households".
- Session length was 1 hour 18 minutes for premium versus 52 minutes for YouTube; the infographic omits it.
Impact Layer
- What changed
- A trade group is circulating a simplified comparison of premium video and YouTube on CTV.
- Why it matters
- Platform comparisons guide CTV budget splits, and thresholds and indices change what the numbers mean.
- Who is affected
- CTV planners, agencies and publishers.
- Martech stack area
- Analytics, Advertising
- Stack impact
- Ask for the full report, session thresholds and which YouTube products were measured before using the 33% figure in a plan.
- Business impact
- Low PPC Land's analysis. VAB represents the premium video industry, the full report is gated, and YouTube TV (a live TV service) appears on the premium side.
- Related technologies
- What to watch
- Independent comparisons of premium video and YouTube attention.
The Video Advertising Bureau (VAB) emailed marketers a two-page infographic, “Spot the Difference”, on October 20, 2026, according to PPC Land. The PDF’s metadata shows it was created September 8, 2026.
The claim
21 premium video platforms outperform YouTube on US connected TV. Headline figures: co-viewing +33% (60% versus 45%), presence +5%, attention to presence +14% and attention to duration +18%. VAB states that premium platforms “deliver superior attention & greater value for marketers than YouTube”.
The source report
- The Impression Gap, produced by VAB and measurement firm TVision, released February 24, 2026; fieldwork July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025.
- Sample: “thousands of households” (Viant, which acquired TVision, later cited 5,000).
- Method: in-room sensors with person and facial recognition, a digital meter for app identity and automatic content recognition.
What the infographic leaves out
- TVision is never named, nor are the fieldwork dates or sample.
- YouTube sessions counted after 30 seconds; premium sessions required five minutes.
- Three of the four figures are index ratios, not probabilities.
- Session length, 1 hour 18 minutes for premium versus 52 minutes for YouTube.
- YouTube TV, a live TV subscription service, was not part of the measured YouTube app but appears on the premium side.
Our read
Read the full report, not the poster. Different thresholds alone can change a comparison.
Sources
- PPC Land: VAB infographic puts premium video co-viewing 33% above YouTube on CTV (opens in a new tab)
Source for the infographic's claims, the underlying report and omissions.