NATIVE ADS: HOW DO THEY WORK?

What is Native Advertising?

Native advertising refers to the strategy of designing advertisements that blend seamlessly with the content, design, and behavior of the platform they're on, creating a sense that the ad is a natural part of the platform. Examples of this approach include promoted search results and sponsored social media posts, which offer the same value to users as organic search results and user-generated posts. As traditional advertising methods like display and banner ads become less effective, both established brands and new startups are investing more in content marketing and non-intrusive ad formats. By 2025, it's projected that the global market for native ads will generate over $402B in annual revenue.

How Native Ads function?

Native ads function through a supply-demand mechanism. Publishers, who have an audience and reach, aim to monetize their sites, representing the supply side. Advertisers, on the other hand, represent the demand side, seeking to reach an audience and achieve goals related to awareness, sales, or lead generation. When a user visits a website with ad space, a bid request is sent from the publisher's supply-side platform (SSP) to a demand-side platform (DSP), which returns an advertiser's bid and metadata metrics. The advertiser with the highest bid gets their ad displayed to the user.

How to identify Native Ads?

Native ads are placed in a context where they fit naturally and are relevant, often looking like the other content around them. They may not always include typical advertising language, especially when the goal is brand awareness. Native advertising can be run manually or programmatically across various channels, including search engines like Google and Yahoo, social networks like Facebook and Instagram, and content discovery platforms like Taboola.

Everyone benefits from Native Ads?

Native advertising benefits advertisers, publishers, and users alike. Advertisers, from Fortune 500 companies to startups, use native ads to reach audiences at impactful moments, maximizing ad spend and driving goals from brand awareness to leads and sales. Publishers use native ads as a crucial tool for monetizing content across platforms and devices without sacrificing user experience. Users benefit from native ads as they are less disruptive than pop-up or pre-roll ads, allowing them to engage with branded content they may be interested in on their own terms.

Which is the right Native DSP Platform?

Choosing the right native advertising platform can maximize the return on a native advertising initiative. Many publishers and advertisers partner with technology companies that can assist with content distribution, audience engagement, cross-platform monetization, and more. Content discovery platforms like Taboola, Outbrain and Zemanta have become particularly popular, reaching billions of users each month and using predictive algorithms to match each online user with the content they're most likely to be interested in next.

Different native ad placement have different benefit

The performance of each ad unit varies depending on factors like page placement, audience referral source, and desired post-click behavior. Some formats perform well for both publishers and advertisers, generating a high number of impressions and conversions. For instance, prominent homepage placements are impactful for brand awareness and thought leadership campaigns, while mid-article units are especially powerful on mobile, engaging users' curiosity before they leave the site or return to their social feed. Below-article placements are recommended for performance advertisers, reaching audiences at a valuable moment when they've just finished consuming content and are open to discovering something new.

Native Ads potential is huge for your brand

In conclusion, native ads offer significant potential benefits for advertisers, publishers, and users. Advertisers can reach audiences at highly impactful moments, publishers can monetize their sites without sacrificing user experience, and users can avoid disruptive ads and engage with branded content they might like on their own terms.