Are you a digital publisher looking to add native ads to your site or app? Written for publishers - not advertisers - this eBook looks at the different native ad types, with advice on when/how to implement them. By the end, you'll have a better understanding of how to make native ads work for you. #### Download this ebook to learn: *Native ad types: Discover the four native ad types for publishers - and which one is best for your business. *How to implement native ads: Learn how publishers implement each native ad type. *Integrated native: Explore what integrated native ads are, why they are the most effective native ad, and how to integrate them.

1. NATIVE ADS: A GUIDE FOR
PUBLISHERS
HOW TO ADD NATIVE ADS TO YOUR SITE & APP

2. 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

3. WHAT’S A NATIVE AD?

4. NATIVE ADS: THEY LOOK LIKE ORGANIC CONTENT
PERSONALITYLOOK BEHAVIOR RELEVANCY
v
Native ad has same
shape, image size,
and font as organic
content

5. NATIVE ADS: THEY BEHAVE LIKE ORGANIC CONTENT
PERSONALITYLOOK BEHAVIOR RELEVANCY
v
Ads have
same
interaction
features
(likes, shares,
saves, etc) &
ideally link to
internal page

6. v
NATIVE ADS: THEY HAVE THE SAME PERSONALITY
PERSONALITYLOOK BEHAVIOR RELEVANCY
Ads reflect personality
of site: playful, serious,
irreverent, etc

7. v
Ads are targeted via
search keywords,
demographic data,
past behavior, page
content, etc
NATIVE ADS: THEY’RE RELEVANT TO USERS
PERSONALITYLOOK BEHAVIOR RELEVANCY

8. NATIVE ADS: THEY ARE INTEGRATED INTO THE USER EXPERIENCE
PERSONALITYLOOK BEHAVIOR RELEVANCY

9. WHAT NATIVE ADS AREN’T
ANY UNOBTRUSIVE ADANY IN-FEED AD

10. NATIVE AD TYPES

11. 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

12. 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’.

13. 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.

14. 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

15. 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.

16. 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.

17. 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.

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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.

21. 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

22. 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.

23. WHY THEY ARE NATIVE
LOOK
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.

24. 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.

25. 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.

26. 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.

27. INTEGRATED NATIVE AD EXAMPLES
PROMOTED POSTS SPONSORED PROFILES

28. INTEGRATED NATIVE AD EXAMPLES
SPONSORED PLAYLISTS SPONSORED INGREDIENTS

29. INTEGRATED NATIVE AD EXAMPLES
SPONSORED EMOJIS SPONSORED MAPS

30. INTEGRATED NATIVE AD EXAMPLES
SPONSORED LISTINGS - MARKETPLACES SPONSORED LISTINGS - BUSINESSES

31. INTEGRATED NATIVE AD EXAMPLES
SPONSORED LISTINGS - SEARCH ENGINES SPONSORED LISTINGS - EVENTS

32. INTEGRATED NATIVE AD EXAMPLES
STREAMING TV AND PODCASTS

33. WHY THEY ARE NATIVE
LOOK
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.

34. 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.

35. 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.

36. 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

37. ABOUT ADZERK

38. Adzerk is a cloud API
platform for building
integrated native ads
in weeks, not years.
ABOUT ADZERK

39. 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

40. 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

41. 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

42. 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

43. LEARN MORE
ADZERK
Adzerk is a cloud API platform for building
integrated native ads in weeks, not years.
Reach out to adzerk.com/contact for more
info.
DURHAM, NC
501 Washington Street
Durham, NC 27701
SAN FRANCISCO, CA
156 2nd Street
San Francisco, CA 94105