The Blink that Decides Your Ad — Why the First 0.5 Seconds Matter Most

14 Aug 2025 | By Marketing TNT Team |

By the time your audience blinks, they’ve already decided if your ad is worth noticing.

In an era where ads flood every scroll, swipe, and tap, the challenge isn’t just being seen — it’s being seen fast enough for the brain to register and respond. For years, marketers have debated whether :30s, :15s, or even :06s spots are the optimal format. But new neuroscience findings reveal something game-changing: the real decision point is the first 0.5 seconds.

Opportunity to See (OTS) — Rethinking Viewability

Traditional media buying often equates longer viewability with better performance. But in the MMA’s applied neuroscience study with Neurons Inc, OTS was measured with eye-tracking (minimum 60ms of gaze) and EEG brain monitoring to detect both attention and cognitive processing.

The results? Most of the “opportunity to see” happens within ~2 seconds — and critical recognition kicks in far sooner.

Attention spikes early: On mobile, the percentage of people who saw an ad jumped from 5% at 100ms to 67% at 400ms.

The brain processes even faster: ~2/3 of ads are cognitively recognized by 0.4s.

Mobile wins the speed race: Desktop takes 2–3 seconds to get ~60% of ads seen.

More seconds ≠ more attention: Even when an ad stayed on screen for 3000ms, viewers attended for only ~46%of that time.

The First Second Gap

Marketers are still optimising for traditional time slots — but the neuroscience is clear: by the time your viewer has blinked, their brain has judged your ad. That judgment can be positive, negative, or indifferent, but it’s already shaping their brand perception and likelihood to engage.

What This Means for You