What is horizontal native advertising

Definition

Horizontal Native Advertising (native advertising) is a type of advertising that fits in not only with the look and feel of an website, but it is similar to the actual content, hence the term ‘native’. It is similar to mobile native advertising (sometimes referred to as ‘Vertical Native Advertising) in that it is available in the same formats, except that the form and function of these formats, and the advertising and/or content they contain, conforms to the user experience of desktop browsers.

Formats

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has identified six primary formats of native advertising, including in-feed, in-ad, recommendation widgets, promoted listings, paid search, and custom.

IN-FEED

By far the most popular format of native advertising and is used by most major platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. As the name suggests, these ads appear within the feed of the site. There are two types of in-feed variations, sponsored content, and in-feed promotions:

Sponsored content:

Paid-for content that mirrors the form and function of the feed in which it appears. This includes mostly written content and/or visual content, depending on the site.

In-Feed Promotions

Direct response ads that link to offsite content. These appear in a feed, but does not mirror content. Certain form and function elements are implemented to make it fit in with the content.

PAID SEARCH & LISTINGS

Integrates with search results either above or below regular listings. May include location-specific, product-related information or call-to-action such as listing directions to a relevant business.

RECOMMENDATION WIDGETS

Content included in widgets that recommend other content of interest such as articles, videos, etc., either at the end of a feed or specific content such as the end of an article or video.

CUSTOM:

Custom-built ads or applications that are often platform specific, such as custom playlists on streaming services, or don’t fit into any particular category.

IN-AD CONTENT

Content in the form of IAB standard sized banners. Ads appear similar to regular banners such as skyscrapers, leaderboards and half-page banners, but contain content that is contextually relevant. This makes banners more engaging and less intrusive.

Native Ads compared to traditional Display Banners

Banner ads are placed separately from content of the page, whereas native ads form part of the editorial. While they don’t stand out like banner ads often do, they perform much higher in terms of engagement, driving things like brand affinity and intent to purchase. Consumers look at native ads almost as long as they do at editorial content, in fact, they often look at native ads more than they do at editorial content.

What does mobile native content look like:

In-Feed:

Paid Search:

Recommendation Widgets:

Custom:

What’s important for advertiser

Native advertising significantly more visually engaging and effective than regular online advertising, and results in a substantial increase in purchase intent. Different formats are suited to different objectives:

Sponsored Content

Increase engagement with interactive content - watch, listen & read

In-Feed Promotions

Drive site traffic to content

Paid Search & Listings

Increase site visits and foot traffic

Recommendation Widgets

Drive site traffic to content

Custom:

Brand awareness

In-ad Content

Stand out on sites with saturated ad inventory

What’s important for website owners

Advertising regulations in many territories require native advertising content has to be identified as promotional or sponsored content. Native advertising is less intrusive, but too much, as well as badly placed ads and/or content that interferes with user experience, can drive away visitors.