AVE (advertising value equivalency)
A contested PR metric that estimates the cost of buying earned coverage as paid advertising. Useful as a rough scale, widely criticised as a measure of value.
AVE, advertising value equivalency, estimates what earned media coverage would have cost to buy as advertising — typically column inches or airtime multiplied by the equivalent ad rate, sometimes with a multiplier. It is a long-standing way to put a number on PR output.
Why it matters for agencies
AVE is controversial: it prices space, not impact, and ignores sentiment, message pull-through, and whether anyone acted. The Barcelona Principles explicitly reject it as a measure of PR value. It survives as a rough comparative scale, best reported alongside reach, share of voice, and outcome metrics rather than on its own.
Run the numbers with the free AVE calculator.