7 Best Native Advertising Platforms to Consider in 2023

Why do you need native advertising platforms?

If you’re looking for new ways to reach your target audience, native advertising is a great option.

These ads are less intrusive than other forms of advertising, so your audience is more likely to engage with them.

Native advertising platforms allow you to place your ad on sites where it will be seen by people who are already interested in what you have to offer.

To help you get started with native advertising, we’ve compiled a list of the 7 best native advertising platforms. These platforms offer a variety of features, so you can find the one that best suits your needs.

But first, let’s understand what native advertising is all about and its benefits.

How We Choose the Best Native Advertising Platforms

• Targeting Capabilities: Our preference is for tools that allow precise targeting of native ads based on audience demographics, location, and interests. The best native advertising platforms offer granular targeting options enabling brands to maximize their marketing results.
• Content and Media Formats: The essence of native advertising is in its creatives and content that allow the ads to seamlessly blend with the environment they are placed in. This is why we have focused on picking tools that offer different ad formats (video, carousel, story ads) and tools to optimize ad design.
• Analytics: We have picked platforms that offer in-depth data on a range of useful metrics, including ad views, clicks, keywords, and ad groups. In addition, the tools offer easy ways to export data.
• Publisher Network: One of the key factors we’ve considered is the platform's ability to manage affiliates effectively. Tools listed here have direct integrations with leading publishers, such as NASDAQ, Microsoft, CBS, ESPN, and so on.
• Custom Reports and Recommendations: Another key factor we have evaluated when picking the best native advertising platforms is their ability to offer insights and custom content recommendations. The tools listed use advanced technology to enable marketers to achieve their ad objectives.
• Quality Policy: We have prioritized platforms that are known for their stringent quality policy for ads and publishers, facilitating the creation of high-quality native ads.

What is Native Advertising?

Native advertising is a form of online advertising that matches the look and feel of the website or app it appears on. Native ads are often less intrusive than other types of online advertising, making them a good choice for publishers who want to keep their readers happy.

Here’s a popular example of native advertising from Allbirds, a sustainable clothing company. Their article on how climate change is affecting birds was published in the New York Times as a paid post.

Image via New York Times

It looks just like any other piece of content on the website, when in reality it was a paid post. That’s the beauty of native advertising—it looks and feels like the native content of a platform.

Types of Native Advertising

Native ads are essentially designed to appear as part of the environment they are in. Yet, there are different ways to display native ads that we have discussed here.

In-Feed Ads

In-feed ads are a type of native advertising that appears within the content feed of a social media platform, a website, or an app.

These are designed to blend in with the surrounding content and can take many different forms, such as article placements, product recommendations, or even sponsored posts.

While the content is marked as a ‘sponsored post,’ its format is similar to the content in the publication.

Here’s an example of an in-feed ad by Statista on Instagram that looks like a regular Instagram post.

Image via Instagram

Promoted Listings and Search Ads

These ads are designed to seamlessly fit in with the users’ browsing experience on ecommerce sites. They display sponsored products that resemble the products on the page a user is viewing.

Here is an example of promoted product listings from Amazon. The first image is of the product that is being viewed while the second image shows the promoted listings.

Image via Amazon

While search ads are similar to promoted listings, they appear on the top of your search results. These types of native ads promote businesses based on the preferences or the current location of the searcher.

Content Recommendations

You might have encountered ‘You may also like’ or “Recommended for you” sections when you finish reading an article or blog on some websites. These can also be classified as native ads. Here’s an example from BBC.

Image via BBC

Pros of Native Advertising Over Traditional Ads

Before we list the top native advertising platforms, let’s understand the reasons why native ads are better than traditional ads and should be a part of your marketing strategy.

Less Intrusive

With thousands of ads popping up across digital channels, ad fatigue is inevitable and as a result 49% of the world’s internet users use ad blockers.

Native ads are less intrusive than other types of ads, such as pop-ups. This means that people are less likely to be annoyed by them and more likely to engage with them.

More Trustworthy

Native advertisements are more effective than traditional ads, because they appear more trustworthy.

According to a study by Outbrain, 75% of consumers trust recommendations and content placed within an editorial environment. In comparison, 54% trust recommendations placed within user-generated content in social media.

And, as the 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer report shows, brand trust is the key driver of purchase decisions across demographics.

Image via 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer Report

More Engaging

Native ads are more engaging than traditional display ads because they blend in with the content around them.

The fact that these ads use a trust-based approach minus the annoying hard-sell attracts higher engagement.

This trust-based, less intrusive approach has a much higher CTR (click-through-rate) than a harder conversion-based approach.

Image via Outbrain

That’s not all. Native ads increase purchase intent by 18%.

Better Targeted

Native ads can be better targeted than other types of ads because they can be matched with specific content topics.

For example, if you sell hiking gear, your ad might appear on a website or blog about hiking and camping. This ensures that your ad is being seen by people who are interested in what you have to offer.

Higher ROI

Native advertising is generally more affordable than other types of advertising, given the ROI it can deliver. This makes it a great option for small businesses or businesses with limited budgets for marketing and advertising.

You might now be wondering how to create native ads that blend in with their surroundings and promote them on the right channels. This is where native advertising platforms come into the picture.

It’s time to look at the top 6 native advertising platforms that help you run targeted native ad campaigns.

The Top 7 Native Advertising Platforms

These native advertising platforms connect advertisers with leading publishers who already have a high user base apart from giving you a range of tools to discover content, create ads, and track your ads’ performance.

Here are our top six picks for the best native advertising platforms.

1. Nativo

Image via Nativo

Nativo is one of the most reliable native advertising platforms that help brands reach their audiences through native ads.

By leveraging Nativo’s native ad networks, brands can create and publish beautiful, engaging ads that blend in seamlessly with the look and feel of a website or app, making them more likely to be seen and interacted with by users.

Key Features

• Proprietary Native Article allows your content to appear on-site and in-feed with publisher branding.
• Canvas helps tell your brand story in creative ways.
• Scroll-to-play and click-to-play videos and Stories format to capture the attention of mobile users
• NativoIQ™, the content intelligence platform analyzes five billion data points to help you optimize your native advertising strategy.
• Native has a native ad network featuring direct integrations with over 3000 popular publishers, allowing you to reach your audience where they are most active.

Pros

• One of the easiest-to-use native advertising platforms
• Good customer support
• Insightful reports
• Content creation support

Cons

• No option to filter data by campaign
• Creative storytelling takes time

Pricing

• Most native advertising platforms use a Cost-Per-Click (CPC) model of payment and Nativo is no exception.

2. Outbrain

Image via Outbrain

If you are looking for native advertising platforms that help marketers reach their target audiences with relevant content, you can’t go wrong with Outbrain.

As one of the best programmatic native advertising platforms, it provides a suite of tools to help marketers plan, create, and measure the performance of their native advertising campaigns.

The native advertising platform only accepts publishers who get million-plus visits per month, which is one of the reasons behind the high volume of daily views and clicks the platform delivers.

Additionally, Outbrain leverages advanced advertising technology to provide insights and guidance to help marketers optimize their campaigns for maximum impact.

Key Features

• As one of the best native advertising networks, Outbrain partners with the top publisher sites in the world offering optimum exposure to your campaigns.
• With Outbrain Amplify, advertisers can choose the budget and pay for clicks till they reach their cap.
• Flexible native advertising formats including standard, carousal, opt-in videos, clip ads, and Outstream ads.
• Onboarding kit and resources for advertisers.
• Zemanta, Outbrain's native DSP (Demand Side Platform), helps brands target and deliver their message to the right people at the right time

Pros

• User-friendly interface
• Diverse targeting options
• Extensive outreach with top publishers and leading niches
• Stringent quality policy for publishers and ads
• Custom recommendations on creatives

Cons

• Ad formats are not as customizable as other native advertising platforms

Pricing

• Like most native advertising platforms, Outbrain offers a CPC pricing model where you will pay for the number of clicks per campaign based on your budget.

3. Yahoo Gemini

Image via Yahoo Gemini

Yahoo Gemini is a native advertising platform that allows advertisers to place ads on Yahoo’s advertising network. Ads are served in an integrated, seamless experience that provides users with the most relevant and useful information possible.

Ads are served based on user behavior and interests, ensuring that each ad is relevant.

Like most native advertising platforms, Yahoo Gemini allows advertisers to reach users across all devices and platforms, including desktop, mobile, and tablet.

Gemini also offers unique targeting capabilities, allowing advertisers to reach specific audiences with laser precision.

Key Features

• Native ads are displayed on Yahoo’s extensive ad network and partner sites including Yahoo's homepage, My Yahoo, ABC News, ESPN, and Apple News.
• Ads adapt automatically to the device be it a tablet, mobile, or computer.
• Businesses can use Gemini to target ads to specific demographics, interests, and even locations.
• Gemini offers a range of ad formats, including native stream, billboard, carousal, video, image, and text-based ads.
• Reporting screen gives you access to data based on views, clicks, keywords, ad groups, and ads.

Pros

• One of the most cost-effective native advertising platforms
• Low competition
• High-quality leads
• Stringent quality policy for publishers and ads
• Custom recommendations on creatives

Cons

• User interface is clunky
• Customer support is not responsive

Pricing

• Yahoo Gemini, like other native advertising platforms, allows you to set a maximum budget for clicks.

4. Sharethrough

Image via Sharethrough

Next up in this list of the best native advertising platforms is Sharethrough. The platform helps brands reach consumers through native ads on high-quality sites and apps.

With Sharethrough, brands can target specific audiences with relevant content, and measure the performance of their ads with detailed analytics.

Let’s see how it compares to other native advertising platforms.

Key Features

• Sharethrough’s ad network and direct publisher integrations help ensure high-quality native ad experiences.
• Place banner ads and video ads on premium environments across verticals.
• Go beyond regular devices to target consumers on the street and on Connected TV.
• Direct publisher integrations help reduce the cost of native ads by removing reseller fees.
• Better match rates compared to other networks that depend on resold inventory.

Pros

• Responsive customer support
• GreenPMPs to reduce carbon footprint
• Connects advertisers to premium publishers

Cons

• Lacks audience segmentation capabilities that other native advertising platforms offer.
• Data export features need improvement.

Pricing

• The pricing is based on the number of clicks and your advertising budget.

5. Taboola

Image via Taboola

As a leading native advertising platform, Taboola allows brands to reach new audiences through its extensive ad network. Taboola's native ads are served to users in the form of recommended content and can be customized to match the look and feel of a brand's site.

Taboola's native ads are effective because they are highly visible and relevant to the users. When a user is reading an article on a website, they will see recommended articles from Taboola at the bottom of the page.

These recommendations are based on the user's interests, and allow brands to reach new audiences who may be interested in their product or service.

Native advertising on Taboola is a cost-effective way to reach new audiences and can be customized to match the look and feel of a brand's site.

Key Features

• Taboola's native ads are truly native, blending in seamlessly with the content around them, and don't look like traditional ads.
• A wide range of ad formats to choose from including standard banner ads, carousel ads, video ads, and more.
• Taboola helps you target your ads to specific audiences, based on interests, demographics, and even location through its native advertising network.
• Add-on creative services to source, create, and optimize creative materials.
• Detailed reports on your native ad performance.

Pros

• A strong ad network based on partnerships with top publishers
• Responsive customer support
• Premium ad and video placements

Cons

• User interface needs improvement
• Ad creation can be a little slow

Pricing

• Taboola is one of the native ad platforms that has a Cost Per Click payment model.

6. RevContent

Image via RevContent

Next up on our list of the top six native advertising platforms is RevContent. Featuring an intuitive platform, RevContent promises high-quality ads and authentic results.

Apart from a fully automated process of native ad placement, the native ad platform offers deep insights to help you tweak your campaigns.

Let’s look at the native advertising platform’s features.

Key Features

• Native ads integrate with the publishers’ content seamlessly to bring high-quality traffic.
• Direct and exclusive partnerships with leading media such as CBS, Microsoft, History.com, and NASDAQ.
• Granular targeting options help brands reach their target audiences to achieve optimum results.
• Dedicated account management to help you make the most of your native ad campaigns.

Pros

• Real-time insights on native ad campaigns
• One of the easy-to-use native advertising platforms
• Responsive customer support

Cons

• The platform requires a minimum daily budget
• Scaling up your ad campaign can be difficult

Pricing

• Like most other native ad platforms, RevContent uses a Cost Per Click payment model.

7. TripleLift

Image via TripleLift

In an increasingly crowded digital advertising landscape, TripleLift has emerged as one of the best native advertising platforms, providing an effective and user-friendly interface to connect advertisers and publishers.

Not only does the platform ensure that ads blend seamlessly into the content, but it also prioritizes the quality and aesthetics of the ad creative. TripleLift places a strong emphasis on visual storytelling, enabling brands to deliver impactful messages.

The best part is that TripleLift uses advanced computer vision technology, dynamic templating, and predictive modeling to help advertisers optimize the results of native advertising.

Take a look at the features, pros, and cons to know if it’s the right choice for your business.

Key Features

• Computer vision technology scans ads to assess the most important elements and generates tailored native placement to keep the focus on these elements.
• Advanced predictive modeling allows deeper insights into the audience by filling attribute gaps and helping create targeted audience segments.
• Dynamic templating renders native ads in real time to ensure they blend seamlessly with their environment.
• Allows integration of 2D, 3D, and video ads in addition to brand overlays.
• Partners with top DSPs and publishers, such as CNN, USA Today, The New York Times, BBC, eBay, Verizon Media, Adobe, and more.

Pros

• Easy to navigate
• Previews of native ads
• Ads formatted perfectly for all devices
• An extensive network of publishers and DSPs

Cons

• The analytics offered are not as comprehensive as compared to the other native advertising platforms

Pricing

• Like most native advertising platforms, TripleLift offers a CPC-based pricing model where advertisers pay for the number of clicks per campaign.

FAQs

Q1. What are native advertising platforms?

A. Native advertising platforms help marketers design and run targeted native ads campaigns.

Native ads are online advertisements that are designed to blend in with the content on the website where they are displayed.

They can take many different forms, such as articles, videos, or images, and are typically labeled as “sponsored content” or “promoted posts.”

Q2. What is an example of native advertising?

A. One example of native advertising is how Netflix promoted “Narcos,” a show on drugs by creating a portal in collaboration with Wall Street Journal. The interactive map on the portal traces the international drug trade’s history and the cartel featured in Narcos.

Q3. What are native ads in advertising?

A. Native advertising is a type of advertising that is designed to blend in with the surrounding content on a website or app. This means that native ads are less intrusive than other types of ads and can provide a better user experience.

Q4. What are the various types of native advertising?

A. There popular types of native advertising are search advertising, social advertising, and content recommendations. Search ads are those that appear in search results and social (or in-feed) ads are those that appear on social platforms.

Content recommendations appear on websites and apps as recommended content.

Q5. What are the best native advertising platforms?

A. The native advertising platforms that we recommend are Nativo, Outbrain, Taboola, Sharethrough, RevContent, TripleLift, and Yahoo Gemini.

These native advertising platforms offer a variety of features, such as campaign management, reporting, and optimization tools. These can help marketers get the most out of their campaigns.

Wrapping It Up

We hope that this guide has given you a better understanding of what native advertising is and which native advertising platforms will help you reach your target audience.

Whichever platform you choose, make sure to test it out and see how it performs before committing to it long-term.

To get the most out of your native advertising campaign, get in touch with Attrock's digital marketing team. We will work with you to develop a comprehensive solution that meets your specific needs.