a native ads guide for publishers
Post on 14-Apr-2017
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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
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
PERSONALITY LOOK BEHAVIOR RELEVANCY
v
Ads have same interaction features (likes, shares, saves, etc) & ideally link to internal page
v
NATIVE ADS: THEY HAVE THE SAME PERSONALITY
PERSONALITY LOOK BEHAVIOR RELEVANCY
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
PERSONALITY LOOK BEHAVIOR RELEVANCY
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
RECOMMENDATION WIDGETS
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.
POOR USER EXPERIENCE
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.
PROGRAMMATIC IN-FEED
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.
POOR USER EXPERIENCE
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.
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
RECOMMENDATION WIDGETS
PROGRAMMATIC IN-FEED
SPONSORED ARTICLES
INTEGRATED NATIVE
POOR USER EXPERIENCE
GOOD USER EXPERIENCE
EASY TO LAUNCH
TIME INTENSIVE
LOW CPMS
HIGH CPMS
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
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