a native ads guide for publishers

NATIVE ADS: A GUIDE FOR PUBLISHERS HOW TO ADD NATIVE ADS TO YOUR SITE & APP

TL;DR

SOUND FAMILIAR?

“I’m a digital publisher looking to add native ad units to my site and app. What are the types of native ads I should be looking at?”

LET’S GO!

Read on to learn:

• What characteristics native ads share

• What the 4 main native ad options for publishers are

• Why publishers should focus on ‘integrated native’ - native ads that match the look, behavior, and personality of organic content

• Tools for building integrated native ads

WHAT’S A NATIVE AD?

NATIVE ADS: THEY LOOK LIKE ORGANIC CONTENT

PERSONALITY LOOK BEHAVIOR RELEVANCY

v

Native ad has same shape, image size, and font as organic content

NATIVE ADS: THEY BEHAVE LIKE ORGANIC CONTENT


v

Ads have same interaction features (likes, shares, saves, etc) & ideally link to internal page

v

NATIVE ADS: THEY HAVE THE SAME PERSONALITY


Ads reflect personality of site: playful, serious, irreverent, etc

v

Ads are targeted via search keywords, demographic data, past behavior, page content, etc

NATIVE ADS: THEY’RE RELEVANT TO USERS


NATIVE ADS: THEY ARE INTEGRATED INTO THE USER EXPERIENCE


WHAT NATIVE ADS AREN’T

ANY UNOBTRUSIVE ADANY IN-FEED AD

NATIVE AD TYPES

4 MAIN NATIVE AD TYPES FOR DIGITAL PUBLISHERS

RECOMMENDATION WIDGETS

PROGRAMMATIC IN-FEED

SPONSORED ARTICLES

INTEGRATED NATIVE

POOR USER EXPERIENCE

GOOD USER EXPERIENCE

EASY TO LAUNCH

TIME INTENSIVE

LOW CPMS

HIGH CPMS


WHO USES THEM

Media/news websites, such as CNN, BusinessInsider, and Huffington Post.

HOW TO ADD THEM

Partner with networks like Outbrain, RevContent, and Taboola, then add some JavaScript code to your site.

WHAT

Ads that promote other articles from ‘around the web’.

WHAT’S ‘NATIVE’ ABOUT THEM

Organic recommendations

Sponsored recommendations

LOOK

Their format - block image and headline - mirrors the other widgets that promote the site’s internal articles.

BEHAVIOR

These ads, like internal recommendations, send people to other news stories.

WHY THEY AREN’T FULLY NATIVE

PERSONALITY

Off-brand ads like “Taylor Swift’s Outfit Leaves You To Your Imagination” erodes the publisher’s professional image.

RELEVANCY

These ads aren’t tailored to page content, intent, or past behavior - leading to poor user experiences.

Organic recommendations

Sponsored recommendations

PROS

SHORT-TERM REVENUE

Although CPMs are only $0.35 - $1.00, the fill rate is high, providing immediate revenue.

SPAMMY

The ads are full of misleading headlines, irrelevant ads, and sexually-tinted images.

CONS

EASY TO LAUNCH

No need for sales or ad-ops team; just add some JavaScript code.


JavaScript tags increase page load time - and 30% of ads lead to click-bait sites.

LONG-TERM BRAND EROSION

Users will start associating low-quality ads with the brands that display them.

THE FUTURE OF RECOMMENDATION WIDGETS

In 2016, these major publications stopped showing recommendation ads

GREAT FOR SHORT-TERM REVENUE; NOT GREAT FOR LONG-TERM SUSTAINABILITY

Recommendation widgets will stick around, but we’ll see more and more brands jettison them for user-friendly and more profitable native ad units - like sponsored articles and integrated native.


WHO USES THEM

Social networks, news sites, messaging apps, and image sites, such as Tango, Flixster, Yahoo, and Wish.

HOW TO ADD THEM

Partner with native networks like Mopub, Google, TripleLift, Facebook Audience Network, and AdYouLike, then add some JavaScript code to your site.

WHAT

Rectangular ads that appear in feeds/streams while user is scrolling, bought programmatically through a network.

WHY THEY ARE ‘NATIVE’

LOOK

Ads share a similar shape to organic content - usually with same font type and image size.

Organic Content

Native Ad

WHY THEY AREN’T FULLY NATIVE

BEHAVIOR

Ads don’t offer same interaction features, such as liking, sharing, etc.

PERSONALITY

Publishers don’t have full control over who’s advertising, like this ad for an off-brand analytics software coupled with a blurry image.

RELEVANCY

These ads aren’t tailored to page content, search intent, or past behavior - leading to poor user experiences.

Organic Content

Native Ad

PROS

SHORT-TERM REVENUE

Although CPMs are only $0.50-$2.00, the fill rate is decent, providing immediate revenue.

DON’T BLEND IN

The ads aren’t obtrusive, but still stand out, since they don’t mirror organic content perfectly.

CONS

EASY TO LAUNCH

No need for sales or ad-ops team; just drop a JavaScript widget.


JavaScript tags increase page load time - and ads aren’t tailored by search, context, etc.

LOW CPMS

Integrated native is usually $5-$10 CPMs (some, $50+) versus <$2.00 for

programmatic.

USUALLY UNOBTRUSIVE

Being in-feed, they don’t annoy users like pop-up ads do.

THE FUTURE OF PROGRAMMATIC IN-FEED

GREAT FOR SMALL PUBLISHERS; NOT IDEAL FOR LARGE ONES

Native ad networks are great for small publishers (<1MM monthly impressions) who don’t have resources for engineering or sales teams.

Larger publishers can start with networks, but long-term will want to sell native ads direct, in order to charge higher CPMs and ensure better user experiences.

Organic Content

Native Ad

SPONSORED ARTICLES

WHO USES THEM

Media and news sites, including The Onion, New York Times, Buzzfeed, and The Atlantic.

HOW TO ADD THEM

Create an in-house native ads team who writes and sells sponsored articles; or, partner with a sponsored article marketplace like Vibrant, Nativo, and Nudge.

WHAT

Articles sponsored by a brand - ideally stories that provide value to the user and written by an in-house team. There are also less-advisable ‘advertorials’ that promote a product while looking like an objective news story.

WHY THEY ARE NATIVELOOK

They are effectively organic articles adorned with a logo and ‘sponsored by’ tagline.

BEHAVIOR

Sponsored articles live on the publisher’s site and have same interaction features.

PERSONALITY

Good sponsored articles have same tone as organic articles and don’t directly promote the brand/product.

RELEVANCY

Articles should be catered to audience: business sites should have business-related articles; humor sites, humorous ones; etc.

PROS

HIGH VALUE

Large publications can charge $100K+ for a couple of articles. Even small sites charge thousands for highly-targeted, well-written pieces.

TIME/COST INTENSIVE

Producing good sponsored articles is costly - some publications have in-house native ad

teams of 20+ employees.

CONS

GREAT USER EXPERIENCE

Articles that provide value - such as The Onion writing a humorous article about tax season (sponsored by H&R Block) - will be appreciated by readers. Pop-up ads and advertorials, on the other hand, will not be.

CAN ERODE TRUST

Good sponsored articles can add value to users - but too many, or poorly labeled ones,

or advertorials, could push people to question the objectivity of the publication.

THE FUTURE OF SPONSORED ARTICLES

IF DONE RIGHT, THEY ARE A VALUABLE SHORT- AND LONG-TERM APPROACH FOR MEDIA COMPANIES

The combination of unobtrusive formats, interesting content, and high cost-per-article makes sponsored articles a must-have for news/media sites.

Brands must be careful, though: too many - or resorting to advertorials - can impact perceived objectivity, driving readers away.

INTEGRATED NATIVE

WHO USES THEM

User-first brands like Google, Facebook, Amazon, Hotels.com, Facebook, Tinder, Quora, Snapchat, Quora, and Yelp.

HOW TO ADD THEM

Build the native ad platform in-house, which requires engineering resources and direct-sales/ad-ops teams. Could take years and cost millions to build.

WHAT

Native ads that mirror the look, behavior, and personality of organic content.

INTEGRATED NATIVE AD EXAMPLES

PROMOTED POSTS SPONSORED PROFILES


SPONSORED PLAYLISTS SPONSORED INGREDIENTS


SPONSORED EMOJIS SPONSORED MAPS


SPONSORED LISTINGS - MARKETPLACES SPONSORED LISTINGS - BUSINESSES


SPONSORED LISTINGS - SEARCH ENGINES SPONSORED LISTINGS - EVENTS


STREAMING TV AND PODCASTS

WHY THEY ARE NATIVELOOK

Native ads are integrated into the site’s content management system (CMS) and mirror organic content in every way (while still being marked as sponsored).

BEHAVIOR

Contains same interaction features - shares, saves, up/down votes, comments, etc.

PERSONALITY

Selling direct means that brands get to ensure all ads reflect the mission and personality of surrounding content.

RELEVANCY

Ads are targeted via user-given demographic data, page content, search terms, location, and more - so users see only ads that add value at that moment.

PROS

HIGH VALUE

Publishers can charge high CPM/CPCs for integrated native, often an order of magnitude more than networks (Foursquare charges ~$30 CPMs; Snapchat, ~$60).

TIME/COST INTENSIVE TO BUILD

In-house native ad platforms could take millions and years to build - hardly an

investment many companies can make.

CONS

GREAT USER EXPERIENCE

Visually, the ads feel like they belong, decreasing risk of ad annoyance.

The ads are also relevant to the user - through search, demographic data, etc - adding value to the overall user experience.

NEED DIRECT SALES TEAM

Publishers need to sell high-value ad units directly, requiring a sales and ad-

ops team.

THE FUTURE OF INTEGRATED NATIVE

IT’S WHERE DESKTOP AND MOBILE ARE GOING

The combination of good ad rates, unobtrusive formats, and personalized ads will propel small and large publishers alike toward integrated native.

We’ll especially see it adopted by user-first communities, social networks, marketplaces, search-based sites, and eCommerce brands.

IN SUMMARY



SPONSORED ARTICLES

INTEGRATED NATIVE


GOOD USER EXPERIENCE

EASY TO LAUNCH

TIME INTENSIVE

LOW CPMS

HIGH CPMS

ABOUT ADZERK

Adzerk is a cloud API platform for building integrated native ads in weeks, not years.

ABOUT ADZERK

EASILY BUILD INTEGRATED NATIVE ADS WITH A SUITE OF API TOOLS

NATIVE AD DESIGN Build any type of ad, anywhere, on any platform.

TARGETING TOOLS Search, content, location, behavior, & more.

AD DECISION ENGINE Chooses the right ad to show (based on rules you define) within 100-300ms.

CUSTOM TRACKING Track custom events like shares, likes, up/down votes & more.

Your ad platform Adzerk

JSON Request

Returns to your CMS

20 40 60

From scratch On top of Adzerk

BUILD AN INTEGRATED NATIVE AD PLATFORM IN WEEKS, NOT YEARS

Number of months to build ad platform

3 Engineers

1 engineer can build an in-house native ad platform in just 6 weeks

1 Full-Time Engineer

ADDITIONAL BENEFITS

SERVER COST SAVINGS outsource billions of ad decisions

ENGINEERING SAVINGS no need to hire new engineers

FAIR COSTS <1% of total ad revenue

SECURE server-to-server is faster and safer than JavaScript

SCALABLE Adzerk does 1B+ impressions a day with room to scale

RELIABLE 99.99% up-time

TRUSTED BY USER-FIRST SITES + APPS

“Adzerk's APIs allowed us to avoid having to build ad delivery logic that wasn't available in-house.”

— Jena Donlin, Sr Product Manager, Reddit

LEARN MORE

ADZERK

Adzerk is a cloud API platform for building integrated native ads in weeks, not years. Reach out to adzerk.com/contact for more info.

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a native ads guide for publishers

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