What is Native Advertising and Native Content? | Taboola

Native Advertising

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What Is Native Advertising?

"Native advertising" describes any situation where branded messages fit seamlessly within their surrounding environment, engaging audiences rather than disrupting the user experience.
Promoted search results and sponsored social media posts are popular examples of native ads. Both formats provide the same kind of value to users as the organic search results and user-generated social media posts.
As consumers become more resistant to traditional forms of advertising, Fortune 500 brands and consumer startups alike are allocating bigger budgets towards content marketing and non-disruptive ad formats.
The global market for native ads is expected to double by 2018, reaching over $60B in annual revenue. Learn More

Who Benefits From Native Advertising?

  • Advertisers

    Fortune 100 brands and fledgling startups alike use native ads to reach audiences at highly impactful moments, when people are already consuming content and open to discovering something new. These campaigns can drive goals around high-level brand awareness as well as down-funnel leads and sales. Learn more how to grow your business

  • Publishers

    Publishers have embraced native ads as an indispensable tool in monetizing content across platforms and devices. Opt-in native units encourage valuable user actions without sacrificing the overall UX, driving users to high-value pages such as video, sponsored content, microsites, and more. Learn more how to monetize your website

  • Users

    Native ads avoid the disruptive pitfalls of pop-up or pre-roll ads in favor of a more respectful bargain with users, allowing people to discover and engage with branded content they may like on their own terms.

What Do Native Ads Look Like?

Native ads can come in virtually any shape or size, so long as the publisher and advertiser clearly label the unit as "sponsored". In 2015, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) began identifying some of the most widely used native formats, including in-feed units, promoted product listings, and recommendation widgets. Below are the three most common situations where audiences encounter native ads online.
How do sponsored search results look like

Search

Search engines like Google pioneered an entirely new form of "native" with their sponsored search results.
How do promoted social posts look like

Social

Social networks like Facebook and Instagram popularized native in-feed and carousel ad formats.
How does content recommendation widget look like

Open Web

Content discovery platforms like Taboola power personalized content recommendations across popular publisher websites.

How to Choose the Right Native Advertising Platform

In order to maximize the return on any given native advertising initiative, many publishers and advertisers team up with technology partners that can help with aspects such as content distribution, audience engagement, cross-platform monetization, and more.
In particular, content discovery platforms like Taboola have skyrocketed in popularity.
They reach billions of users each month and rival the scale of major social networks. These discovery platforms are powered by Facebook-like predictive algorithms that match every online user with the top content items they are most likely to be interested in consuming next.
Check out the list of requirements for choosing the right content discovery platform.

QUALITY OF NETWORK

Across what kinds of websites and/or page placements is the platform currently deployed?

TRACKING

Does the platform provide transparent access to key performance metrics? (e.g. cost-per-acquisition, pages-per-visit)

SCALE

How many users does the platform reach in your target regions?

COMPATIBILITY

How well can the platform integrate with various hardware and software solutions? (e.g. devices, operating systems, CRM software)

TARGETING

What kinds of targeting and retargeting capabilities does the platform offer? (e.g. behavioral, demographic, B2B, B2C)

SERVICE

Does the partner offer a flexible range of self-service and account management support?
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What Native Units Are Best For You?

Every ad unit performs differently depending on factors such as page placement, audience referral source, and desired post-click behavior. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, but there are some formats that perform well for publishers and advertisers alike.
Native units in a publisher homepage

Publisher Homepage

The most impactful option for brand awareness and thought leadership campaigns. Prominent homepage placements generate premium CPCs for publishers and enable advertisers to build trust with audiences through association with the day’s leading editorial headlines.
Mid-article native units

Mid-article

Maximize the value of transient visitors by engaging their curiosity before they click away or return to their social feed. Especially powerful on mobile, mid-article units enable brands to achieve full-screen exposure and publishers to monetize a greater portion of their traffic (through higher viewability rates).
Below article native units

Below Article

Recommended for performance advertisers, below-article placements reach audiences at a highly-valuable moment when they have just finished consuming a piece of content and are open to discovering something new. These users report higher post-click engagement than any other referral source (incl. search and social).
See which sponsored content formats could fit you

Native Tips and Tricks

Inform or entertain first;
"sell" later
Many audiences are likely learning about your brand or product for the first time; earn their attention before making your sales pitch.
Remember that "native" isn't always "content"
Depending on the context, native ads can take the form of customized product offers, quizzes, games, maps, and more.
Consider the tradeoffs between text and video
Studies show that video excels at forging an emotional connection with audiences, while text activates our more rational "inner voice."
Think strategically about your headline
Rather than appeal to the largest audience possible, consider headline formulations that attract a more targeted (and therefore engaged) audience.
A/B test everything
From title and thumbnail variations, to platform and device targeting, continually test and optimize any element of your campaign that might reap greater efficiencies.
Retarget "warm" audiences for lower CPAs
For high-consideration purchases, retargeting enables advertisers to engage audiences who have recently read about your product or service (and are more likely to buy).
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Why Work with Taboola?

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The Value of Sponsored Content for Publishers
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