Hook Rate and Hold Rate help identify where Facebook and Instagram video ads lose viewers’ attention. The first metric measures the initial three seconds, while the second measures subsequent retention. In October 2026, Meta added both metrics to its documentation, and advertisers began noticing them among the ready-made columns in Ads Manager. This makes creative analysis easier, but it does not replace evaluating CTR, CPA, and actual conversions.
Key Takeaways
- Hook Rate — the percentage of ad impressions that result in a video play lasting at least three seconds.
- Hold Rate — the percentage of three-second video plays that reach the ThruPlay threshold.
- For videos longer than 15 seconds, ThruPlay does not mean watching to the end.
- In late October 2026, Hook Rate and Hold Rate began appearing as built-in metrics in Ads Manager, but availability is not yet universal.
- Meta has not established official targets of 30–35% or 50%.
- Both metrics are useful for diagnosing creative performance, but final decisions should be based on conversion cost and quality.
What Is Hook Rate and How Is It Calculated?
Hook Rate shows the percentage of ad impressions in which a user watched at least three seconds of video. In the industry, the metric is also called Thumb Stop Rate or Thumbstop Ratio.
Hook Rate = 3-second video plays / Impressions × 100%.
For example, a video ad received 20,000 impressions and 5,000 three-second video plays. Its Hook Rate is 25%.
According to Meta’s definition, a 3-second video play is counted when a video plays for at least three seconds, or nearly to completion if the video is shorter than three seconds. Replays are not added to this metric.
Hook Rate helps assess the first visual contact: the opening frame, motion, on-screen text, the first spoken line, or a product demonstration.
But it is not an exact measure of how many people consciously stopped scrolling. Meta counts video plays, not user intent. Autoplay, placement, audience behavior, and how the video is displayed all affect the result.
That is why two identical creatives in Facebook Feed and Instagram Reels can have different Hook Rates even without changes to the script.
What Is Hold Rate and Why Is It Confused With Video Completions?
Hold Rate shows the percentage of three-second video plays that turn into a longer view meeting Meta’s ThruPlay definition.
Hold Rate = ThruPlays / 3-second video plays × 100%.
If a video received 5,000 three-second video plays and 1,250 ThruPlays, its Hold Rate is 25%.
The key detail is how ThruPlay is defined. For videos up to 15 seconds long, it means watching almost to the end. For longer videos, reaching 15 seconds of playback is sufficient.
For a 10-second video, then, Hold Rate is close to the completion rate. But for a 40-second video, it measures retention to 15 seconds, not to the final frame.
That is why the formula “complete views / three-second video plays,” often used by media buyers, is not the same as Meta’s official Hold Rate.
If you need to measure actual video completions, it is useful to analyze Video plays at 100% separately relative to three-second video plays. That metric should have its own name to avoid confusing it with Hold Rate.
Hook Rate and Hold Rate: An Example Using One Creative
Imagine a 20-second video ad with the following results:
- Impressions — 40,000.
- Three-second video plays — 12,000.
- ThruPlays — 3,600.
- Video plays at 100% — 1,800.
This gives us a Hook Rate of 30% and a Hold Rate of 30%. At the same time, only 15% of three-second video plays reached the end of the video.
These are three different signals. Hook Rate describes initial attention, Hold Rate describes retention to the ThruPlay threshold, and the completion metric describes reaching the end.
To diagnose the script, it is worth adding Video plays at 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%. They help show which part of the video sees a decline in the number of views.
However, these values do not always form a perfect retention curve: Meta may count views where a user skipped ahead to a particular point in the video.
Meta Added Hook Rate and Hold Rate to Ads Manager
Previously, advertisers generally created both metrics themselves using Custom Metrics.
In October 2026, separate definitions of Hook Rate and Hold Rate appeared in Meta’s Help Center. Toward the end of the month, specialists began reporting that these metrics were appearing directly in Ads Manager.
Meta labels both metrics as being in development. This means their availability and calculation methods may still change.
To check whether the metrics are available, open Ads Manager, go to Columns → Customize columns, and search for Hook rate and Hold rate.
If available, add them to your report. If not, use your own formulas based on the underlying video metrics.
How to Create Hook Rate and Hold Rate Manually
For accounts where the built-in columns have not yet appeared, follow these steps:
- Open Ads Manager and navigate to the Ads level.
- In the Columns menu, select Customize columns.
- Click Create custom metric if this option is available in your interface.
- Create Hook Rate using the formula 3-second video plays / Impressions.
- Create Hold Rate using the formula ThruPlays / 3-second video plays.
- For both metrics, select percentage formatting.
- Save the column set as a preset for future use.
Do not multiply the formula by 100 again if the editor already applies the Percentage format.
If Meta provides built-in Hook Rate and Hold Rate columns, compare them with your custom metrics for the same ads and dates. This can help identify differences in formulas or counting methods.
What Is a Good Hook Rate?
Meta has not published a universal Hook Rate benchmark for all advertising campaigns.
The popular recommendation to aim for 30–35% may be useful as an external reference, but it is not an official platform standard.
A Biddyco study covering June–August 2026 analyzed 479 video ads from 17 US ad accounts. The median Hook Rate was 20.9%, and the middle 50% of ads in the distribution had values of approximately 14% to 30%.
However, this is a sample of specific accounts, not a representative statistic for all Meta advertising.
The most useful benchmark is your own campaign history under similar conditions: the same placement, format, video length, GEO, and audience type.
Is 50% a Standard Hold Rate Benchmark?
No, Meta has not established a universal Hold Rate target of 50%.
Moreover, some publicly available studies use a different formula. For example, Biddyco defines Hold Rate as the ratio of ThruPlays to ad impressions, rather than to three-second video plays.
In that sample, the median ThruPlays / Impressions metric was 4.6%. But median retention from a three-second play to a ThruPlay was around 22%.
This is not a statistical contradiction; it is a consequence of using different denominators.
Therefore, you can compare Hold Rate with third-party benchmarks only after checking the formula. Video length must also be considered: ThruPlay describes different levels of retention for an 8-second video and a 45-second video.
How to Find a Video’s Weak Point Using Hook Rate and Hold Rate
Low Hook Rate but High Hold Rate
Only a small percentage of impressions turn into three-second video plays, but the people who stay continue watching.
This is a reason to check the opening frame, first spoken line, on-screen text, and how quickly the main idea appears.
A practical test is to keep the main body of the video unchanged while creating several different openings. This makes it easier to determine whether the introduction really is the problem.
High Hook Rate but Low Hold Rate
The opening attracts attention, but a significant percentage of viewers quickly stop watching.
Possible reasons include an introduction that drags on after the first frame, an abrupt shift to another topic, too much explanation, or a mismatch between the opening promise and the main content.
Check the editing pace, the structure of the arguments, and when the product or offer appears.
High Hook Rate and Hold Rate but Low CTR
The video holds attention but does not motivate viewers to click the link.
This may mean the content is interesting in its own right, but the offer, product benefit, or call to action is not compelling enough.
However, the audience may also be the cause: people watch the video without intending to take the desired action.
High CTR but Expensive Conversions
The creative generates clicks, but users do not complete the desired action after clicking.
In that case, check whether the ad promise matches the landing page, loading speed, offer terms, registration form, and traffic quality.
UAGEEK previously explained in detail why CTR depends not only on the creative but also on the audience, format, and offer.
How to Test Hooks Properly
Hook Rate is especially useful when testing different openings for the same video script.
For example, you could test three versions of the opening scene: a product demonstration, a specific user problem, and the result of using the product. Keep the rest of the video identical.
This approach isolates one variable. If you change the opening, main copy, editing, and CTA at the same time, it will be difficult to identify the cause of any difference.
At the same time, Meta automatically distributes impressions between ads. So simply comparing creatives within one ad set is not always a controlled experiment.
More reliable conclusions require comparable conditions, a sufficient number of impressions, and, where possible, a structured A/B test.
For more about working with the first seconds of a video, see UAGEEK’s article on advertising hooks and creating creatives.
Why You Should Not Optimize a Campaign Based on Retention Alone
A high Hook Rate does not mean an ad attracts the right customers. A high Hold Rate does not guarantee conversions either.
For example, an entertaining video may generate many long views but few registrations. By contrast, a short product video may have more modest retention metrics while converting interested viewers more effectively.
Therefore, it makes sense to evaluate video creatives across several levels of metrics:
- Attention: Hook Rate, Hold Rate, video plays at 25–100%.
- Response: CTR, link clicks, CPC.
- Post-click behavior: landing page views, CVR, registrations, and leads.
- Business outcomes: CPA, CPI, ROAS, confirmed conversions, revenue, or profit.
For affiliate marketing and iGaming, it is especially important to reconcile Meta metrics with tracker and affiliate program data. Cheap clicks and good retention may be worthless if the traffic fails validation or does not generate the intended actions.
Conclusion
Hook Rate and Hold Rate allow more precise analysis of Meta Ads video campaigns by distinguishing problems in the first seconds from weak retention in the main part of a video.
However, both metrics have limitations. Hook Rate depends on more than the creative alone, Hold Rate uses the ThruPlay threshold, and popular benchmarks are not universal.
The best use of these metrics is to identify the next hypothesis to test. Decisions to scale or stop an ad should be based on CPA, ROAS, and the quality of final conversions.
Sources for Verification
Sources for Verification
Meta Business Help Center — Hook rate. Official definition of Hook Rate as the percentage of three-second video plays out of total impressions. The metric is labeled as being in development.
Meta’s Definition of Hook Rate
Meta Business Help Center — Hold rate. Official definition of Hold Rate based on ThruPlays and three-second video plays.
Meta’s Definition of Hold Rate
AdShift, October 29, 2026. Report on the appearance of Hook Rate and Hold Rate as built-in columns in Meta Ads Manager, their in-development status, and limited availability.
New Video Metrics in Ads Manager
Biddyco, September 2026. Study of 479 video ads from 17 US ad accounts, Hook Rate results, and a comparison of different methods for calculating retention.
Hook Rate: Benchmarks Based on Ad Data
eonik, November 5, 2026. Explanation of the Hook Rate and Hold Rate formulas, ThruPlay definitions, and the limitations of comparing videos of different lengths.
How to Analyze Hook Rate and Hold Rate