6 Universal Types of Native Ads
Similar to other forms of advertising, native ads have several formats, each with its own set of advantages. The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has identified the following six types of native advertising.
1. In-feed units
In-feed native advertising units are similar to the scenario we outlined above. If you’re seeing sponsored posts appear in your social media feeds or on a publisher’s site (e.g. Forbes, Mashable), those are in-feed units. They’re paid placements that appear directly in-line with other articles, posts, or editorial content.
2. Paid search units
Native advertising is also a popular advertising method for search engines. Those top-of-the-page advertising placements you’re bidding on? Technically, they’re native ad placements as those top paid search results are made to fit in with the organic search results below them.
3. Recommendation widgets
Another spot where you’ll find native ads on publisher sites, social media, and even search engine results pages is in recommendation widgets. You’ll often see these ads off to the side of a web page, or even at the end of an article, to recommend additional content you might like.
4. Promoted listings
If you have an online shopping habit (like many of us), you see promoted listings regularly. To give you an example, when searching for new marketing books, several sponsored listings appear on Amazon.com. However, while those publishers paid for those media placements, they’re made to look just like the organic listings.
5. Display ad with native elements
This type of native advertising looks just like any other ad you might see online. You may even see them in an ad container or banner. What makes them native, however, is that they’re contextually relevant to the site they appear on and the content they appear next to.
6. Custom
Given the speed of technological change and the potential for publisher partnerships, the IAB’s last type of native advertising leaves the door open for a range of possibilities. Creating a new Snapchat filter (below) is an example of a custom native ad. The filter, while a form of paid media, fits within the app’s user interface alongside Snapchat’s other filters.
