Dive Brief:
- Digital publishers have growing concerns about ad blocking technology and native advertising through sponsored content has been seen a cure for the issue. However, depending on how native ads are served determines if they are subject to ad blocking tech.
- Native ads published through media companies' content management systems likely would avoid blocking, but if they are served through ad tech those native ads will most likely be blocked.
- The tradeoff is although native ads are less intrusive, if ad tech is used to achieve scale when publishing those ads they become just as easily blocked as any other ad that gets served on publisher websites.
Dive Insight:
Native ads may more seamlessly fit into publisher websites offering users a less intrusive experience, but depending on how those ads actually get placed on websites determines if they are subject to ad blocking technology.
Publishers are concerned about ad blocking because it directly affects a revenue stream, and native ads have been seen as a workaround for the issue. Native ads that are placed on the website within the publisher’s internal system, means those ads are treated like any other editorial content on the publishing side of things. These are likely safe from getting blocked. But, ads that appear on the website after being served by ad tech are just as susceptible as other formats to being blocked.
Michael Macher, publisher of TheAwl, told The Wall Street Journal, “A lot of people are calling for the adoption of more unobtrusive native advertising in place of standard network ads. But native advertising companies that many indie publishers work with are increasingly using easy-to-block code snippets in order to operate at scale across the web.”
TheAwl, last year 95% of TheAwl's native ad revenue came from ads created for marketers and published directly to the website. In contrast, this year 95% of native ad revenue will come from third party native ad companies.
