During the game, the Super Bowl ads are inserted into a web survey and sent to a national representative sample of more than 2,000 participants. Responders will answer questions regarding their perceptions of the ads using various parameters, including breakthrough, emotion, memorability and involvement. They will also utilize an automated response system to indicate their level of interest in quarter-second intervals as they watch an ad.

The interest levels will be analyzed in the form of curves to determine which commercials had the highest sustained levels of interest. The curves will be used as part of a metric to calculate and rank the advertisements and determine the winning ads. The metric will also include a measurement for emotions and an index for “word of mouth” impact of the ads.