Circulation is a measure that provides an estimate of the maximum number of people who could potentially see an advertisement. It is a broad metric that focuses on potential reach, rather than actual interactions or views. Due to its broad nature, circulation tends to generate larger impression counts, but it is less accurate in measuring whether the ad was actually seen by the audience.Example: the number of readers that a magazine can reach. If a magazine has a circulation of 50,000, that means 50,000 copies are distributed. However, that does not guarantee that 50,000 people will open the pages or see your ad.
Real Opportunity to See (ROTS) is a more sophisticated and accurate metric than circulation. This metric estimates the number of people who actually have a real opportunity to see and interact with an ad. Unlike circulation, which only measures potential, ROTS attempts to measure impressions more precisely and closer to reality.To determine ROTS, additional data is often required, such as direction facing (See Add New DOOH Inventory ↗), which allows the system to understand whether an advertisement is within the audience’s field of view. With factors such as these, ROTS provides a more accurate picture of how effectively an advertisement reaches its audience. In short, ROTS provides fewer but higher quality and more accurate impressions.
