By Jose Otavio Singer
VP, Product Management, Oath
This is the first in a series on native advertising by Oath.
Native has transformed digital advertising. But what is native advertising exactly? At its simplest, native ads are a form of paid media where the advertising experience follows the form and function of the user experience in which it’s placed.
- For example, the standard native ad unit features an image and message and lives within a stream of editorial content.
A recent eMarketer forecast notes that publisher demand of higher-value, mobile-friendly inventory, coupled with advertiser demand for more engaging, less intrusive ad units, will drive US native digital display ad spending to increase by 27.9% in 2018 to $28.2B.
Marketers increasingly rely on native advertising as it has proven to perform stronger than traditional display ads at building trust and driving engagement with potential new customers. Studies have shown average click-through rates 4X higher for premium native ads versus non-native display ads on mobile devices.
Why the drastic improvement in performance? At Oath, it comes down to targeting and context. Native ads appear in a range of environments according to each user’s unique online experience, whether it involves checking news on Huffington Post, catching up on email through Yahoo Mail, or staying in the social loop on Tumblr.
As mobile content experiences continue to evolve, native ad formats need to follow suit. Here are just a few examples of innovative native ad formats delivered by Oath through Yahoo Gemini:
- Native Slideshow ads take multiple images and messages and then effortlessly stitch them together in a single video ad.
- Native Carousel ads allow users to swipe through multiple images, with clicks on the images leading to different landing experiences if the advertiser chooses.
- Native Mails Ads appear alongside other emails in Yahoo Mail. Users can read, forward, or save Mail Ads just as they would do with emails.
When native ads – served in the right context – are combined with powerful data insights and intent signals, the result is a highly effective mode of communicating with your best potential customers in a non-intrusive way.
Oath offers multiple methods to buy native advertising. Yahoo Gemini serves over two billion native ad impressions daily across Yahoo and AOL properties, as well as curated third party supply. Advertisers can also buy native via the company’s programmatic offerings.
To learn more about Yahoo Gemini, visit Gemini.Yahoo.com.
