NATIVEADVERTISINGNATIVEADVERTISING

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tabLE oF CoNtENtS

4 | intRoduction

6 | business insideR Sponsored Articles with Companion Ad Placements

8 | buzzfeed Sponsored Content, In-Stream and Elsewhere

10 | newsweek Tightly-Integrated, Expandable Display Ads

12 | usatoday.com One Polished Ad Per Page

14 | the awl In-Stream Articles and Ads

16 | tumblR Promoted Visual Blogging

18 | people.com mobile Sponsored Stories in Mobile

20 | foRbes.com Native Teasers for Sponsored Editorial Channel

22 | ReadwRite Visually-Arresting Content Ads

24 | bonus: mashable Immersive Editorial and Social Content

26 | conclusion

29 | contact flite

4flite.com

Why are the world’s top publishers turning to native advertising?

Because native advertising allows advertisers to use publisher brand equity and audience to influence advertiser brand perception. Native ads can increase engagement with a brand in a way that isn’t disruptive to content consumption. Moreover, native ads allow premium publishers to differentiate from increasingly commoditized ad buys made with standard units across programmatic buying platforms.

A survey of 4,770 consumers by IPG Media Lab and Sharethrough, which included eye tracking of 200 consumers, revealed that native ads are more visually engaging than standard banner ads. Consumers looked at native ads 52% more frequently. The same study showed native ads provided a 9% higher brand lift and 18% higher purchase intent than their standard banner counterparts. These early success numbers support the growing sentiment that native will be an important part of the evolution of digital advertising.

Early success numbers

support the growing

sentiment that native will be an important

part of the evolution of digital

advertising.

INtRoDuCtIoN

For online publishers, native is one of the biggest trends in advertising this year.

According to a recent study by the online Publishers association, 73% of OPA members currently offer native advertising opportunities, with that number projected to climb to 90% by the end of 2013.

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SO, whAT ExACTly ArE NATIVE ADS?

There is some disagreement in the industry, but here are the criteria we used in this guide:

• The design and placement of native ads is unified with the site’s content.

•Native ads don’t deviate from the visitor flow, they work within it.

•Native ads offer a high-quality brand experience that is organic to the site they are on.

•Native ads are clearly identifiable as sponsored.

•Many, but not all, native ads are also content ads that integrate articles, videos, social opportunities, or even a site’s own content right into the ad.

In this resource, we have taken a look at how nine popular publisher sites are using native advertising to deliver value to both their clients and their users.

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whAT IT IS

Sponsored stories on Business Insider are displayed natively in the main story feed of the site, and look like every other story teaser with the exception of their light-gray background and “Sponsor Content” caption.

Clicking on the native ad takes you to the full article, hosted on Business Insider and flanked by the sponsor’s display ads. The byline explains who has sponsored it.

Advertisers can also sponsor entire article sections, such as “The Future of Business.” Section sponsorship features the advertiser’s content at the top of the page. Every 3-7 articles, a “Sponsor Content” article promo appears. Companion banner ads for the sponsor accompany the content as well.

buSINESS INSIDERSponsored Articles with Companion Ad Placements

{NativeTeaser

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{Sponsorship Identification

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Business Insider also identifies sponsored content with a caption popup as “written by or on behalf of marketers looking to reach the Business Insider audience.” An additional note that “Business Insider’s editorial staff is not involved in the development of sponsor content” makes clear that the advertiser is responsible for the content of the article, not Business Insider’s writers.

why IT wOrkS

Business Insider’s native advertising product is successful because it leverages the same consumption pattern BI readers use for editorial content: sifting through the feed for interesting teasers, and clicking through to read a full-length article.

Although the aesthetic treatment for the promo is different enough to clearly identify the content as sponsored, the type of headline, category of content, and the action it demands from the user is visually consistent with the rest of the site.

BI’s sponsored articles aren’t necessarily advertorials or stories designed to pitch the sponsor’s product or service. Many sponsor posts simply provide material that might appeal to the type of reader that has similar affinities. For example, a sponsored article on the popular Dove Real Beauty Sketches video ad doesn’t mention the advertiser, Innovid, at all. However, the article’s topical focus on what makes viral ad videos compelling complements Innovid’s value proposition around interactive video advertising.

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whAT IT IS

The bread and butter of BuzzFeed’s native ads are sponsored posts revealed in line with the other content, but labeled as “Featured Partner”. The background color is slightly warmer for sponsored posts, which also feature a small square logo next to “Presented By”.

Other native experiences are available throughout the site, including sidebar content promotion, or even the addition of an entire sponsored signature feed.

why IT wOrkS

With headlines like “Will Smith’s ‘After Earth’ Apocalypse: Who Loses Most” and “How Twitter Schooled an NYU Professor About Fat-shaming,” BuzzFeed’s featured content may be sponsored, but it’s exactly the same kind of content the site’s audience enjoys: edgy, provocative, and current.

BuzzFeed’s site doesn’t have any traditional banner, and for good reason. The content is aimed for an audience with a short attention span. Visitors to BuzzFeed don’t have time for ads. They want entertainment. Sponsored content gives them just that.

buzzFEEDSponsored Content, In-Stream and Elsewhere

{NativeTeaser

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OThEr BuzzFEED ExAMPlES

Joining the ranks feeds with names like LOL, WIN, OMG and WTF, companies can sponsor their own feedback category. In the example (shown above), Starbucks has allowed users to express their feedback via a cam shot of their facial expression.

BuzzFeed also launched its own native advertising network in March, allowing them to further monetize their native ads across sites with similar content.

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{Partner ContentTeaser

In place of a standard 300x250 is an ad promoting branded content, not the brand itself.

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{Native Display Ad(Expanded View)

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NativeDisplay Ad

Expand to reveal content

NEwSwEEkTightly-Integrated, Expandable Display Ads

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whAT IT IS

As part of the dramatic redesign of their site which debuted in May 2013, Newsweek bucked the entire model of standard ad formats [Disclaimer: Newsweek’s native ads are powered by Flite]. Their new site offers only premium, native advertising, with no standard ads whatsoever.

Newsweek’s new model provides sponsorship exclusivity across the site to only one or two advertisers, with the ads integrated throughout. Expandable banners accompany some of the large images on featured stories. While scrolling down, a full width expandable unit also appears every second or third major story.

Like the new site, all of the ads are highly visual, with expansive images and video content.

The site sponsorship is reinforced with a brief interstitial partnership message (shown to the right), which pops up for about two seconds on the initial load of the site. The message is self-closing. It darkens but does not conceal the content underneath it.

why IT wOrkS

The tasteful integration of ads into the giant graphics for their featured stories, and the self-closing interstitials demonstrate respect for Newsweek’s audience. The ads are reasonable, visually balanced, and with branding appropriately sized. Everything is refreshingly well put together with the ads tightly integrated into the site experience.

The Newsweek aesthetic overhaul gives the visitor the whole package, advertising included. Through helpful content and appealing design, Newsweek ads don’t force attention, they earn it.

{Sponsorship messagewith transparent overlay

Native Ad {

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whAT IT IS

The number of ads on the new USAToday.com site is surprisingly low, about one per page.

Sections of the paper are sponsored, with a large pushdown unit that auto-expands on the first page view. The units are visually striking and contain video and other content, often sharing the same background as the page itself. An obvious close button in the upper right allows for easy collapsing of the unit.

uSatoDay.ComOne Polished Ad Per Page

{{

Close/CollapseButton

NativeDisplay Ad

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why IT wOrkS

These ads feel native in part because there are so few of them. By including only a single ad unit with each of the articles, visitors get accustomed to not seeing ads, and—thanks to a visually striking redesign—are free to explore the entire page without the usual banner blinders on.

The section sponsorships are not typical either. Their clean design and focus on content and video echo the content contained within the digital paper itself.

{In-articleCompanion Ad

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whAT IT IS

The Awl offers an advertising experience that blends both sponsored content and traditional advertising.

Sponsored posts and stories pop up in line with the news content every two to four posts. They are visually differentiated with a light-gray background.

why IT wOrkS

One area of consumer criticism about native ads is that it can be hard to distinguish between sponsored and non-sponsored content. The Awl’s solution to this is simple and effective.

Visitors are accustomed to skimming headlines. By putting

the words “Sponsored Post” with the same green highlighting that the post titles usually have, The Awl draws attention to the word “sponsored” before revealing the sponsor’s headline.

Users opting to engage with an ad are presented with editorial content that is generally just as compelling as the rest of the site’s offerings, and totally native to the experience.

thE awLIn-Stream Articles and Ads

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Sponsorship Identification

NativeContent

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Even the in-stream banner ads are placed exactly where the viewer is looking—giving a higher chance to be noticed—thereby providing extra exposure to the site’s advertisers.

{TraditionalAd, In-stream

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whAT IT IS

Tumblr’s native advertising product, integrated into their internal promotional program Radar, allows advertisers to embed posts that have the same format and functionality of all Tumblr posts into users’ feeds. Each Radar post sponsored by an advertiser is identified by a dollar-sign icon in the upper-right corner that, when clicked, displays the advertiser’s account name.

tumbLRPromoted Visual Blogging

{

SponsoredPost Icon{Native

Content

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why IT wOrkS

Radar posts, including sponsored ones, are fully native. Users can perform the same sort of intuitive interactions that make Tumblr such a compelling, popular blogging platform. Following the sponsor is as easy as following any other user, and users can like and reblog any Radar post.

Because user interaction occurs within Tumblr’s signature feed, and executed in the same type of visual storytelling popularized on the platform, this form of advertising provides a particularly intimate and authentic feeling of engagement with a brand. Posts should deliver meaningful value on their own; otherwise, they are swiped right past.

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whAT IT IS

People.com, the online version of the popular entertainment magazine, has a mobile site that features a visually-rich story feed. Content is divided into sections, each with 3-5 stories in the default view, with short teasers.

PEoPLE.Com (mobILE)Sponsored Stories in Mobile Article Feed

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ContentTeaser

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Sponsorship Identification

The mobile site’s native ad execution inserts sponsored stories into the feed, with Sponsored by [Advertiser] superimposed above each item’s title. Tapping on the teaser expands the story, video in the example below, along with sharing buttons.

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why IT wOrkS

In contrast to banners and takeovers, which are even more disruptive to the browsing experience in

mobile environments than they are in the standard desktop one, a native approach is downright welcome on phones and tablets. The native ad blends in to accompanying editorial items seamlessly, but still identifies itself clearly as being advertiser supported.

The type of content also matches the ad’s context. If a user is browsing video content on her phone, it intuitively follows that she’ll be more receptive to engaging with a video ad. Furthermore, tapping on the item just expands the content and allows consumption within the site, vastly preferable to clicking off the site entirely and irritating the user.

The sharing options grease the wheels for viral distribution.

{Sponsored Content(Expanded View)

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whAT IT IS

Forbes.com’s digital native advertising product, BrandVoice, is remarkably similar to Business Insider’s sponsor posts [Disclaimer: Forbes is a Flite client, although not for BrandVoice]. Advertisers get their own channel, incorporating their own moniker and the term “Voice” in a camel-case format, like OracleVoice and XeroxVoice. Native ad teasers for sponsored posts can appear in the parent channel’s stream or section.

FoRbES.ComNative Teasers for Sponsored Editorial Channel

{NativeTeaser

“Voice”SponsorshipIndicator

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The article title’s lead identifies the article as being part of the BrandVoice program, which becomes clearer when clicking through to the article:

A byline strip above the article title establishes that the piece was written by or for the advertiser. The explanatory link discloses the relationship between the article’s authorship and the sponsor. Companion banner and rectangle ads display the advertiser’s messaging and branding around the content.

why IT wOrkS

Forbes.com is a mammoth content site with dozens of new articles published every hour. Articles written by Forbes staff have long sit alongside those authored by contributors—many of them corporate—so the BrandVoice native advertising product does not represent a major departure from what readers expect from the site. The brand and red-lettered “Voice” title leader hints that the article promoted in the teaser is different, something which is adequately explained when the user clicks and begins reading the article.

The onus on the advertiser is to deliver a high-quality article that users derive value from. If they do, the halo effect would presumably help awareness and perception of the brand. It also encourages readers to follow the BrandVoice author, ensuring that each high-quality article holds the promise of planting a seed for a longer-term dialogue between brand and reader.

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whAT IT ISReadWrite has two types of native ads: a wide banner in the article gallery, and an in-article format.

The gallery banner (shown above) is a custom-sized rich media unit that presents between articles. The format features multiple videos, social sharing buttons, and evocative imagery.For the in-article format (shown below), about midway while scrolling through an article the viewer is greeted by a large advertisement that snaps into place as it comes into full view. As scrolling continues, the article content below slides in to cover the ad, which leaves the tagline at the top of the ad on the screen last instead of scrolling away first. The in-article ads have a lighter background color and are labeled “Advertisement - Your article continues below”.

REaDwRItEVisually-Arresting Content Ads

{ {Video Content

NativeDisplay Ad

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why IT wOrkS

While the native display ads are distinctive from the general content on ReadWrite, they feel more like featured stories than interruptive advertising.

Big, beautiful images, video, and social media are used liberally, offering a quality ad experience that complements the carefully composed content on ReadWrite. Branding is light and tasteful, and the ads focus on product stories, videos and feature information.

By sliding the content over the in-article ad, instead of simply having users scroll past it, advertisers keep their message in view for a few extra moments.

Standard 300x250 or 728x90 ad units would look out of place on ReadWrite, but these visually-arresting native display ads fit right in.

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Native Display Adwith Scrollable Reveal

AdvertisementIdentifier

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{{SponsorIdentification

NativeTeaser

maShabLEImmersive Editorial and Social Content

whAT IT IS

Mashable offers two types of native advertising opportunities: sponsored custom editorial content, and an in-stream social ad product called Social Lift [Disclaimer: Mashable is a Flite customer, although not for the custom editorial content or Social Lift].

For the editorial content, brands select a concept they want to be associated with — for instance “Tech Innovation” or “The Future of Travel.” Mashable’s staff then creates custom content that is thematic to the topic and compelling to Mashable’s readers. The sponsored content teasers run on the site among the regular teasers, but are displayed as “Presented by” or “Sponsored by” the brand.

“Mashable’s approach to native advertising is to align our clients with topics and premium content that is thematically important to them that we know our readers will love. The result is native advertising that generates 20-25x higher CTR than banner ads and receives 50% higher engagement than the average Mashable article.” — Adam Ostrow, Chief Strategy Officer

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Further SponsoredContent Discovery

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Clicking the teaser for the editorial takes the viewer to a full-length article that is flanked by companion ads, other sponsored content, as well as social content, such as a Twitter feed, from the brand.

Brands can also push specific social assets like tweets, Instagram images and Vine videos right onto Mashable from a self-service interface using Social Lift, Mashable’s newest native ad product. These social units appear in-stream alongside standard Mashable content and are clearly social media, but are otherwise visually similar to non-sponsored content.

why IT wOrkS

By offering a number of advertising opportunities — editorial articles, social content and traditional advertisements — Mashable gives brands numerous consumer touch points that are seamlessly integrated into the site.

These methods reinforce each other on article pages that are packed with subtle but frequent branding. The clean, browsable format provides a consumption experience Mashable readers are accustomed to.

Brands can use Social Lift units on Mashable.com to drive subscribes, likes and follows — actions that build lasting value for the brands. Mashable reports that Lift Units also receive a higher clickthrough rate than other ad units on the site, and twice the engagement of organic content.

Example of a Social Lift post

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IN-STrEAM SPONSOrED POSTS

The most common form of native ads is a type of sponsored editorial content that mirrors the style and topics of the site content. For those native ads that aren’t editorial, the content still shares a stream with the site content, instead of being relegated to the sidebars.

BIg CANVASES, BEAuTIFul grAPhICS

For premium native display ads, canvases are getting bigger, not smaller, giving the ad room to spread and provide a visually-arresting experience. Native advertising content enjoys prominence equal to standard editorial content.

COMPANION ADVErTISINg SuPPOrTINg NATIVE CONTENT

Some sites offer both native and non-native advertising opportunities, coupling traditional advertising with native content. The pairing reinforces the sponsorship with strong branding: the natively-presented content provides value and entertainment, while the advertisements reinforce brand awareness and messaging.

CoNCLuSIoN

In our review of the state of native ads right now, four main trends stand out.

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EASy IDENTIFICATION OF SPONSOrED POSTS

The sites in this resource use a variety of tactics to distinguish native ads from non-sponsored content:

•Clearly labeling sponsored posts

• Identifying the advertiser as the post author or in a boilerplate

•Using subtle changes in background color between sponsored and regular content

•Creating sponsored content channels or entire site sections devoted to a sponsor’s content.

Native advertising as both a concept and practice is relatively new, and, as such, rapidly evolving during this period of creative destruction. The nine examples profiled represent a sampling of approaches embraced by the vanguards in this space.

We anticipate that the types of native executions will continue to proliferate until best practices are developed and adopted by premium publishers. In fact, the IAB has put together a native advertising task force to develop an understanding of native advertising landscape and track developments in the space. The promise of native advertising to deliver a more powerful experience for both advertisers and visitors will ensure its continued investment and refinement in the years ahead.

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Written by:Jason MenayanDirector of Marketingjason.menayan@flite.com

Rob LennonSocial & Digital Media Managerrob.lennon@flite.com@thatroblennon

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