Advertising Value Equivalency Ave In Coverage Reports Muck Rack

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Nov 18, 2025, 5:31 AM

advertising value equivalency ave in coverage reports muck rack

Several metrics are available in Meltwater designed to assist Public Relations and Communications professionals in measuring the impact of earned media. These metrics are essential for evaluating the effectiveness of PR efforts. Estimated Views is a metric that approximates the number of times an average article from a publication has been viewed. This is accomplished by dividing a publication’s monthly page views by the number of articles it published in a given month. Additional logic is applied to eliminate outliers. Reach estimates the potential viewership of a specific article based on the number of monthly unique visitors to the source.

This metric is powered by our partnership with SimilarWeb, a leading internet technology company specializing in marketing data and analytics. Meltwater has multiple views where you can find Reach metrics to an article, such as Explore, Monitor, and Analyze dashboards. Click Explore in the left-hand navigation bar Working as a PR professional has many benefits and equally many drawbacks. One of the biggest drawbacks is measuring the results of your activities. That’s where advertising value equivalency, or AVE for short, comes to the rescue!

Advertising value equivalency has been around for years (the metric was first used in the 1940s), and with the rise of new technologies, AVE is a very convenient metric to measure public relations. Disclaimer: AVE is an auxiliary metric. With the rise of digital marketing, new, more accurate metrics to measure PR are available. Still, AVE can be used to add insights to your PR measurement. Measuring the results of PR activities has always been hard. How do you prove business impact of a PR on your business’ bottom line?

Back in the day, PR professionals invented the advertising value equivalency. By checking the cost of placing an ad, a PR specialist could prove the effects of a PR campaign and show the ROI. What is AVE exactly? How do you measure advertising value equivalency? How has the public relations industry changed AVEs in the modern day? Let’s find out!

We get it. The C-suite understand advertising and want to see big number $$ equivalents from PR. But you and I both know that an AVE ‘big number’ doesn’t prove the true value of communications. If you’re ready to impress senior stakeholders with credible, realistic and influence-proving metrics you’ve come to the right place. 30 day free trial, no commitment, no credit card required. Annoying Salesperson will NOT call.

“I found CoverageBook when researching ways to improve our Ad Value Equivalency (AVE) calculations, which we'd done the same way for decades. We knew our method wasn't great, but didn't have an alternative. CovageBook's algorithm and metrics are more meaningful and justifiable than tying value to 1x ad rates. The books are polished and easy to understand, a big step up from our clunky PDF files with clipped screenshots.” Julie Eleftheriou, Editorial Director, Longren & Parks “The best media coverage reporting platform that complies with AMEC Barcelona standard - loved it!”

Advertising Value Equivalency (AVE) is a measure that has been used in the public relations industry to 'measure' the benefit to a client from media coverage of a PR campaign. AVE's would commonly meaure the size of the coverage gained, its placement and calculate what the equivalent amount of space, if paid for as advertising, would cost. Often a multiplier would also be used - commonly in the range of 3 to 10 - to allow for the credibility factor of news coverage over advertising. Within the PR industry the use of AVE's has been the subject of controversy and deemed unethical by some of the industry 's peak lobby groups. A number of criticisms of AVE's have been made including that the amount of space a story covers is irrelevant if the article is critical of the client or if the clients competitors are... The use of multipliers has been rejected as arbitrary and unscientific.

Calculating Advertising Value Equivalency means putting a price tag on the space your press release takes up in the media. The math is straightforward - just figure out how much ad space would cost in that same spot, then multiply it by your coverage size. But here's the thing, it's kind of like measuring a painting by the cost of the canvas. Some PR pros swear by Advertising Value Equivalency, while others think it's missing the bigger picture of what makes press coverage truly valuable. Whether you're trying to justify your PR budget or show your boss some results, understanding how to calculate Advertising Value Equivalency matters. Want to know the real deal about AVE?

Let's break it down. AVE tries to put a dollar value on media coverage. It works like this: if your press release results in a 10-column inch article in a newspaper, you check how much a 10-column inch ad costs there. What is Advertising Value Equivalency (AVE)? Why is AVE Important in Public Relations? Conclusion: Is AVE a Valid PR Measurement Tool?

Imagine this scenario: You’re a hardworking PR executive and your latest campaign has just wrapped up. It’s time for the inevitable question – how successful was it? As you sift through press coverage, social media buzz, and blog mentions, you’re tasked with the challenging job of translating these results into tangible value.

Advertising Value Equivalency Ave In Coverage Reports Muck Rack

People Also Search

Several Metrics Are Available In Meltwater Designed To Assist Public

This Metric Is Powered By Our Partnership With SimilarWeb, A

Advertising Value Equivalency Has Been Around For Years (the Metric

Back In The Day, PR Professionals Invented The Advertising Value

We Get It. The C-suite Understand Advertising And Want To