Native advertising: how it works for small businesses

The definitions come from IAB's Native Advertising Playbook 2.0 (PDF, May 2019). Platform details come from the platforms' own help pages: Taboola's How Realize Works, Intro to Realize Ads Platform, Pricing Model and Billing Basics and Advertising Content Policies Overview, Outbrain's What is Outbrain Amplify? and Conversion Bid Strategy articles, and Microsoft Advertising's What are audience campaigns? We do not quote click-through rates, typical prices or market-size figures.

What native advertising is

IAB, the US advertising industry body, describes native advertising as "a concept encompassing both an aspiration as well as a suite of ad products." The aspiration is paid ads that are "so cohesive with the page content," "assimilated into the design," and "consistent with the platform behavior… that the viewer feels the ads belong there."

So "native" is about fit, not about a fixed size or file format. IAB notes that even a standard banner size "does not automatically disqualify an ad from being native": what matters is whether it is styled to match the experience it lives in, where it sits and how it behaves next to the surrounding content.

Native is also not the same as programmatic. Native describes what the ad looks like; programmatic describes how the space is bought. Many native ads are bought automatically through an auction. Our guide to programmatic advertising explains that side.

The three core types

The 2019 Playbook cut IAB's list from six types to three:

• In-feed / in-content ads. In-feed ads "are placed in article and content feeds and mimic the surrounding site design and aesthetics." In-content ads sit "primarily on article pages, in between paragraphs of content or below the article." Sponsored posts in social feeds work the same way.
• Content recommendation ads. Also called content discovery ads or recommendation widgets. IAB says they are "typically found below or alongside publisher content, such as an article or in a feed," and a click "will always be redirected either to an external page/URL or to another of the source publisher's URLs."
• Branded / native content. "Paid content from a brand that is published in the same format as full editorial on a publisher's site, generally in conjunction with the publisher's content teams themselves." Think of a sponsored article.

Two former types were folded in. Promoted listings "are actually In-Feed Ads typically found on commerce sites", such as sponsored products on a marketplace. Paid search ads "technically meet the IAB definition of native," but IAB dropped them because the industry treats search as its own category.

Where native ads run

A small business usually buys native ads through a self-serve platform rather than directly from publishers. Three that describe themselves this way:

• Taboola (Realize). Taboola's advertiser platform is now called Realize. Its help centre says its ads appear natively on sites such as Yahoo, NBC News, MSN, The Independent and The Weather Channel, and that Realize has a "self-service sign-up wizard" to create a campaign. Our Taboola ads guide covers set-up, bidding and specs.
• Outbrain (Amplify). Outbrain's help centre says an Amplify campaign "will allow your content to appear as recommendations" on large publisher sites, and that it suits "a Fortune 500 company or a small business" with content worth sharing. Our Outbrain ads guide covers set-up, bidding, budgets and specs.
• Microsoft Audience Network. Microsoft lists Native as one of three audience ad types, alongside Display and Online Video, shown on "MSN, Microsoft Start, Microsoft Edge, Outlook.com, and publisher partners." Our Microsoft Audience Network guide covers setup, placements and exclusions.

Social platforms sell in-feed native formats too, for example LinkedIn's sponsored content and Conversation Ads and TikTok Spark Ads, and retailers sell promoted listings through retail media networks.

Publishers also choose what they accept. Taboola notes that your items only appear on sites "that accept your specific type of content"; some publishers, for example, do not want political ads.

How you pay

Native platforms sell mostly by the click or by the thousand impressions, through an auction:

• Taboola says you "will pay for your campaigns on a CPC (cost-per-click) or CPM (cost-per-mille, a.k.a. cost-per-thousand) basis," and that your bid is what you are charged for each click or view. Billing can be automatic by card, a monthly invoice with a credit limit, or prepayment.
• Taboola decides where to show your items using two factors, click-through rate and cost per click: "The higher the CPC, the more competitive your campaign items will be across the network." A more engaging title and image can therefore matter as much as the bid.
• Outbrain offers four conversion bid strategies (Semi Manual, Max Conversions, Target CPA and Target ROAS). The automated ones optimise "by adjusting your campaign CPC." Target CPA and Target ROAS need a conversion event set up first.
• Microsoft Audience campaigns have their own bid and budget settings, covered in the bidding section of our Audience Network guide.

None of these platforms publishes a standard price. What you pay depends on your bid, your targeting and how well people respond to the ad. Set a daily budget you are comfortable losing while the platform learns, and judge results on conversions, not clicks.

Disclosure and labelling

Because native ads look like the content around them, the label is what keeps them honest. IAB's Playbook asks every format to answer one question: "How does the publisher disclose to the consumer that this is an ad and not part of their editorial content? Is the disclosure clear and prominent?" For paid branded content, IAB says the disclosure must:

• "Use language that conveys the advertising has been paid for"
• "Be large and visible enough for a consumer to notice it in the context of a given page and/or relative to the device that the ad is being viewed on."

The test is simple: "a reasonable consumer should be able to distinguish between what is paid advertising and what is publisher editorial content." The Playbook points to the FTC's 2015 native advertising guidance for the US rules.

On ad networks, the publisher usually adds the "Sponsored" or "Ad" label. Your job is the ad itself: a title and image that are not misleading, and claims you can back up. Taboola, for example, has separate policies for titles, thumbnails, branding text and landing pages, and rejects items that break them. If you pay creators or publishers for posts, the same disclosure duty applies to you; our influencer marketing disclosure guide explains the FTC and UK rules.

What the landing page needs

A native ad promises something that looks like content: an article, a guide, a video, a product. The page behind it has to deliver that promise. Someone who clicked "5 things to check before you hire a roofer" and lands on a bare quote form will usually leave.

• Match the headline. The first screen should continue the story the ad started, then lead to one clear next step.
• Plan for cold traffic. Recommendation ads reach people who were reading something else, so explain who you are and why your offer matters.
• Track the result. Install the platform's pixel or conversion tag; Outbrain's Target CPA and Target ROAS cannot run without one, and Taboola calls its pixel essential for performance.
• Follow the policies. Landing pages are reviewed too. Check the platform's landing page policy before you launch.

Our landing page basics guide covers the page itself in more detail.

Where to start (our view)

Native ads tend to suit businesses that already have something worth reading or watching: a useful guide, a comparison, a case story or a product video. If all you have is a sales page, start with search or social ads, where intent or targeting does more of the work.

If you test native, pick one platform, send traffic to one strong piece of content with a clear next step, try a few titles and images, and give the algorithm time to learn before you judge it. Taboola says its predictive engine needs that time, and prediction accuracy increases as it learns. Check where your ads ran and exclude sites that do not fit your brand.

For help planning ads and the pages they send people to, see our services.

Frequently asked questions

What is native advertising in simple terms?

It is paid advertising designed to fit the look and behaviour of the page or feed it appears in, such as a sponsored post, a recommended article link or a promoted product listing. It still has to be labelled as an ad.

What are examples of native ads?

Sponsored posts in social feeds, "recommended for you" links below news articles (the format Taboola and Outbrain sell), sponsored articles written with a publisher, and sponsored product listings on shopping sites.

Which platforms sell native ads?

Content recommendation networks such as Taboola (Realize) and Outbrain, the Microsoft Audience Network, social platforms with sponsored feed posts, and retailers with promoted listings. Larger buyers also reach native inventory through programmatic platforms.

How much do native ads cost?

There is no standard price. Taboola charges per click (CPC) or per thousand impressions (CPM) based on your bid, and Outbrain's bid strategies work by adjusting your CPC. Your cost depends on your bid, targeting and how many people click.

Do native ads have to be labelled?

Yes. IAB says a reasonable consumer should be able to tell paid advertising from editorial content, and US and UK advertising rules require ads to be identifiable. Networks add a label such as "Sponsored," but your title, image and claims must not mislead.

Is native advertising the same as content marketing?

No. Content marketing is content you publish on your own channels. Native advertising is paid placement on someone else's site or feed. They often work together: native ads are a common way to get your content in front of new readers.