What is AVE?
AVE, or advertising value equivalency, expresses the value of an editorial publication as what the same space would cost as advertising. It gives a fast, recognizable number for what PR delivered. The method is contested, because editorial attention and advertising are not truly comparable.
Written by Timon Hendriks · Last updated on 12 July 2026
How it works in practice
The calculation is simple: half a page in a paper with known ad rates gets the price of a half-page ad as its value. Some agencies multiply that by a factor, arguing that editorial attention is more credible than an ad. That produces one total amount per campaign or period.
Use AVE as a rough indication and a comparison over time, not as absolute truth. The metric says nothing about the article's tone, whether your audience read it, or what it produced. Combine it with reach, sentiment, and share of voice, and where possible with website traffic or inquiries that publications generate.
Example
A Wisconsin cheesemaker lands a large feature in a national paper, two trade articles, and a radio segment in one quarter. The PR agency calculates what equivalent ad space would have cost and reports that AVE to the board, alongside the reach and sentiment of the publications. The board sees at a glance that the campaign returned more than it cost.
Common mistake
Presenting AVE as earned money. It is a comparison metric, not revenue; whoever sells AVE as a hard result undermines trust in every following PR report.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate AVE?
Take the size of the publication (space or airtime) and multiply it by the outlet's advertising rate. Some agencies then apply a multiplier for the higher credibility of editorial coverage.
Why is AVE contested?
Because editorial coverage and advertising differ fundamentally: you do not control the message, and a critical article weighs as heavily in AVE as a glowing one. Modern PR measurement combines several metrics instead.