Analytics is an umbrella, and in a screen or video operation it covers at least four different things that get discussed as if they were one.
- Display analytics reports what the network did: which asset played, where, when. Proof of play.
- Audience analytics reports who was there, in aggregate: counts, dwell, estimated demographics.
- Retail analytics reports what happened in the space: footfall by zone, conversion against traffic.
- Engagement metrics report what people did with interactive content: taps, paths, completion, drop-off.
The caveat is that conflating them is how reporting becomes meaningless. A platform advertising "full analytics" often supplies only the first, which reports the equipment rather than the audience, and a screen will report ten thousand faithful plays into an empty corridor.
When evaluating, ask which of the four a number belongs to and where it comes from: logged by the player, counted by a sensor, or modelled from an assumption. The third is common in out-of-home and is a projection, not a measurement.