RESEARCH STARTER

Native advertising

Native advertising is a form of paid advertising that seamlessly blends with the regular content and design of the platforms where it appears, aiming to engage readers without disrupting their experience. This method has gained popularity as traditional advertising formats decline, with native ads resembling editorial content, which can sometimes blur the line between advertising and journalism. Native ads are often labeled as "sponsored" or "promoted" and can take various forms, including articles, videos, social media posts, and search engine results. They are categorized into closed and open native advertising, depending on whether they originate from the brand or a third-party publisher.

While native advertising presents significant benefits for both publishers and brands, such as increased engagement and click-through rates, it also raises concerns about transparency and consumer deception. Proper labeling is crucial to maintain trust, as failure to clearly distinguish these ads from editorial content can mislead readers. Regulatory bodies like the Federal Trade Commission have recognized these issues and have issued guidelines to ensure that consumers can easily identify commercial content. Overall, native advertising continues to evolve as brands and publishers seek innovative ways to connect with audiences while navigating the complexities of digital advertising ethics.

Full Article

In business and marketing, native advertising refers to paid advertisements that look similar to the regular content and design of the online platforms on which they appear. Through native ads, publishers earn revenue from their content feeds.

Native advertising is labeled as “sponsored” or “promoted.” There are two types of native advertising based on where and how the native ads are displayed: closed and open.

Examples of native ads include articles, blogs, and videos on news and entertainment websites; posts on social media platforms such as X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook; reels on Instagram or TikTok; and results on search engines.

Native advertising has exploded as publishers and brands develop and utilize the practice. However, because the ads resemble editorial content, it can be tricky to differentiate between the two. This can confuse and deceive readers.

Native advertising provides significant benefits for media and brands. However, the practice comes with concerns as the line blurs between editorial and advertising content.

Background

As readers browse media sites, they have grown averse to clicking on traditional display ads, such as banners, pop-ups, and ad boxes. Sharp readers are skeptical of the veracity of the information that ads present.

Publishers looking to make money from their digital content are increasingly turning to native advertising. Native advertising blends in with the non-advertising content surrounding it on publisher sites, appearing “native” to the platform.

The goal of native advertising is not to disrupt the reader’s experience. Instead, the practice aims to engage the reader by providing relevant information that adds value to the user experience.

Native advertising combines the promotion of a product or brand with interesting, educational, or useful content, downplaying the marketing aspects. Because the ads look like they belong on the website or social media platform, readers are more likely to click on them than banners.

Native ads include sponsored content and branded content. Sponsored content is created by the publisher or influencer, and the brand pays for it. Branded content is created by the brand, and the publisher or influencer runs it alongside their own content.

There are two kinds of native advertising. Closed is created by the brand, which generates a profile and its own content on a social media platform, such as X (formerly Twitter) or Facebook. The brand then uses the profile to promote its content in the same design style as that of the channel. Open is created by a brand that produces content outside of a media platform, and then a third-party company disseminates the content across multiple channels. The content takes on the design style of each platform where it is published.

Native advertising is different from content marketing. Both involve brands creating relevant content to increase their exposure. In content marketing, however, brands use their own websites and channels to display the content. In native advertising, brands pay to increase the visibility of their content by using other channels.

Overview

Native ads have become a powerful tool of advertising for publishers and brands. According to Hexagram’s 2013 State of Native Advertising report, 62 percent of media companies offer native advertising, and 66 percent of brands produce their own content. Native advertising spending increased rapidly during the 2010s and 2020s as publishers and brands increasingly adopted the format, reaching about  $106 billion by 2024..

Native ads appear in a variety of formats. The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), which develops standards and best practices for the interactive advertising industry, identified six categories of native ads:

  • In-feed ads: The native ads appear in the live feeds of social media platforms. This is the most common format of native advertising. In-feed ads include promoted posts on X that look like regular posts but are labeled “promoted by.” They also include sponsored stories that appear as updates on Facebook that are tagged as “sponsored” or “suggested posts.” Articles or videos that appear next to editorial content on the entertainment website BuzzFeed and online news blog HuffPost are labeled as “featured partner.”
  • Search ads: Paid search ads are placed above the organic results of search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing. They look just like the search results, but they are identified as an “ad” or “ads related to (search word).”
  • Recommendation widgets: Ads or other paid content are delivered through a widget that is integrated into a webpage. They may not look like the site’s editorial content and take readers to a page off the site. They are usually accompanied by wording such as “Recommended for you,” “You might also like,” and “From around the web.”
  • Promoted listings: These ads are found on websites such as Amazon, Etsy, or Google that do not have regular editorial content. They look exactly like the products offered on these channels and link to product pages. They are labeled as “ads” or “sponsored products.”
  • In-ad: The ads appear outside of editorial content, but they contain relevant information within the ad and link to a page off the site.
  • Custom: This category includes native ads that do not fit into the previous categories. As publishers and brands devise new formats of native ads, they may apply only to the media platforms on which they appear.

The IAB updated the categories in its 2025 guidance to just three core formats: in-feed or in-content, content recommendation ads, and branded or native content.

Native ads are a boon for publishers and brands. Because native ads look like the editorial content on media sites, publishers benefit from the likelihood that readers will click on the ads. In turn, readers may extend the integrity and goodwill that the publisher has already established to the brand itself.

Some publishers have found success by developing native advertising programs. Forbes was the first prominent news outlet to incorporate promoted content into its website. Forbes started the AdVoice program in 2010. The program, which changed its name to BrandVoice, propelled Forbes’s 2012 revenue to its highest level in a five-year period.

Native advertising should be clearly labeled and disclosed as sponsored or promoted content. When it is not, readers can mistake the ads for legitimate news articles, damaging their trust in the site.

The Atlantic ran a native ad for the Church of Scientology in 2013. Although the ad was labeled “sponsor content,” it matched the design style of the Atlantic’s editorial content, which misled readers into thinking it was a journalism piece. The news website pulled the ad within the day, issuing an apology to readers. The Atlantic’s major error demonstrates the potential deception of readers that can occur as editorial and advertising content blend together.

As native advertising continued to evolve, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) intervened. In 2015, the FTC issued an enforcement policy on “deceptively formatted advertisements” and a guide for businesses on navigating native advertising. The FTC stressed that publishers and brands must effectively identify commercial content so consumers can discern what they are reading. In the 2020s, the FTC updated its regulatory framework to include revised endorsement guidelines and to define the use of reviews and testimonials from consumers.


Bibliography

Burton, Joe. “The Psychology Behind Native Advertising.” Forbes, 6 Sept. 2024, www.forbes.com/councils/forbesagencycouncil/2024/09/06/the-psychology-behind-native-advertising/. Accessed 6 Mar. 2026.

Farnworth, Demian. “12 Examples of Native Ads (And Why They Work).” Copyblogger, 14 Apr. 2014, www.copyblogger.com/examples-of-native-ads/. Accessed 6 Mar. 2026.

“The FTC’s Endorsement Guides: Being Up-Front with Consumers.” Federal Trade Commission, www.ftc.gov/news-events/topics/truth-advertising/advertisement-endorsements. Accessed 6 Mar. 2026.

Interactive Advertising Bureau. 2025 Outlook Study: A Snapshot into U.S. Ad Spend, Opportunities, and Strategies for Growth. Jan. 2025, www.iab.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/IAB_Outlook_-Study_January_16_2025_v2.pdf. Accessed 6 Mar. 2026.

Mansfield, Matt. “What Is Native Advertising?” Small Business Trends, 17 Oct. 2023, smallbiztrends.com/2015/05/what-is-native-advertising.html. Accessed 6 Mar. 2026.

“Native Advertising Market Size, Share | Industry Report, 2033.” Grand View Research, June 2025, www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/native-advertising-market-report/toc. Accessed 6 Mar. 2026.

“The Native Advertising Playbook.” Interactive Advertising Bureau, 4 Dec. 2013, www.iab.net/media/file/IAB-Native-Advertising-Playbook2.pdf. Accessed 6 Mar. 2026.

O’Brien, James. “4 Native Ads the Media’s Talking About.” Mashable, mashable.com/2014/09/30/native-ad-campaigns/. Accessed 6 Mar. 2026.

Pulizzi, Joe. “The Ultimate Guide to Native Advertising.” LinkedIn, 7 Jan. 2014, www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140107180859-5853751-the-ultimate-guide-to-native-advertising. Accessed 6 Mar. 2026.

Ratcliff, Christopher. “What Is Native Advertising, and Do You Need It?” Econsultancy, 5 Nov. 2013, econsultancy.com/blog/63722-what-is-native-advertising-and-do-you-need-it. Accessed 6 Mar. 2026.

Sherbin, Mark. “How Your Content Distribution Can Use Native Advertising.” Content Marketing Institute, 20 Jan. 2013, contentmarketinginstitute.com/2013/01/content-marketing-and-native-advertising/. Accessed 6 Mar. 2026.

Thornton, Terri. “Native Advertising Shows Great Potential, but Blurs Editorial Lines.” MediaShift, 2 Apr. 2013, mediashift.org/2013/04/native-advertising-shows-great-potential-but-blurs-editorial-lines092/. Accessed 6 Mar. 2026.

“Trade Regulation Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials.” Federal Trade Commission, www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/r311003consumerreviewstestimonialsfinalrulefrn.pdf. Accessed 6 Mar. 2026.

“Types and Formats of Native Advertising in 2025.” Native Advertising Institute, 13 Feb. 2025, www.nativeadvertisinginstitute.com/blog/types-of-native-advertising. Accessed 6 Mar. 2026.

Wasserman, Todd. “This Infographic Explains What Native Advertising Is.” Mashable, 13 Dec. 2012, mashable.com/2012/12/13/infographic-native-advertising/. Accessed 6 Mar. 2026.

Full Article

In business and marketing, native advertising refers to paid advertisements that look similar to the regular content and design of the online platforms on which they appear. Through native ads, publishers earn revenue from their content feeds.

Native advertising is labeled as “sponsored” or “promoted.” There are two types of native advertising based on where and how the native ads are displayed: closed and open.

Examples of native ads include articles, blogs, and videos on news and entertainment websites; posts on social media platforms such as X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook; reels on Instagram or TikTok; and results on search engines.

Native advertising has exploded as publishers and brands develop and utilize the practice. However, because the ads resemble editorial content, it can be tricky to differentiate between the two. This can confuse and deceive readers.

Native advertising provides significant benefits for media and brands. However, the practice comes with concerns as the line blurs between editorial and advertising content.

Background

As readers browse media sites, they have grown averse to clicking on traditional display ads, such as banners, pop-ups, and ad boxes. Sharp readers are skeptical of the veracity of the information that ads present.

Publishers looking to make money from their digital content are increasingly turning to native advertising. Native advertising blends in with the non-advertising content surrounding it on publisher sites, appearing “native” to the platform.

The goal of native advertising is not to disrupt the reader’s experience. Instead, the practice aims to engage the reader by providing relevant information that adds value to the user experience.

Native advertising combines the promotion of a product or brand with interesting, educational, or useful content, downplaying the marketing aspects. Because the ads look like they belong on the website or social media platform, readers are more likely to click on them than banners.

Native ads include sponsored content and branded content. Sponsored content is created by the publisher or influencer, and the brand pays for it. Branded content is created by the brand, and the publisher or influencer runs it alongside their own content.

There are two kinds of native advertising. Closed is created by the brand, which generates a profile and its own content on a social media platform, such as X (formerly Twitter) or Facebook. The brand then uses the profile to promote its content in the same design style as that of the channel. Open is created by a brand that produces content outside of a media platform, and then a third-party company disseminates the content across multiple channels. The content takes on the design style of each platform where it is published.

Native advertising is different from content marketing. Both involve brands creating relevant content to increase their exposure. In content marketing, however, brands use their own websites and channels to display the content. In native advertising, brands pay to increase the visibility of their content by using other channels.

Overview

Native ads have become a powerful tool of advertising for publishers and brands. According to Hexagram’s 2013 State of Native Advertising report, 62 percent of media companies offer native advertising, and 66 percent of brands produce their own content. Native advertising spending increased rapidly during the 2010s and 2020s as publishers and brands increasingly adopted the format, reaching about  $106 billion by 2024..

Native ads appear in a variety of formats. The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), which develops standards and best practices for the interactive advertising industry, identified six categories of native ads:

  • In-feed ads: The native ads appear in the live feeds of social media platforms. This is the most common format of native advertising. In-feed ads include promoted posts on X that look like regular posts but are labeled “promoted by.” They also include sponsored stories that appear as updates on Facebook that are tagged as “sponsored” or “suggested posts.” Articles or videos that appear next to editorial content on the entertainment website BuzzFeed and online news blog HuffPost are labeled as “featured partner.”
  • Search ads: Paid search ads are placed above the organic results of search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing. They look just like the search results, but they are identified as an “ad” or “ads related to (search word).”
  • Recommendation widgets: Ads or other paid content are delivered through a widget that is integrated into a webpage. They may not look like the site’s editorial content and take readers to a page off the site. They are usually accompanied by wording such as “Recommended for you,” “You might also like,” and “From around the web.”
  • Promoted listings: These ads are found on websites such as Amazon, Etsy, or Google that do not have regular editorial content. They look exactly like the products offered on these channels and link to product pages. They are labeled as “ads” or “sponsored products.”
  • In-ad: The ads appear outside of editorial content, but they contain relevant information within the ad and link to a page off the site.
  • Custom: This category includes native ads that do not fit into the previous categories. As publishers and brands devise new formats of native ads, they may apply only to the media platforms on which they appear.

The IAB updated the categories in its 2025 guidance to just three core formats: in-feed or in-content, content recommendation ads, and branded or native content.

Native ads are a boon for publishers and brands. Because native ads look like the editorial content on media sites, publishers benefit from the likelihood that readers will click on the ads. In turn, readers may extend the integrity and goodwill that the publisher has already established to the brand itself.

Some publishers have found success by developing native advertising programs. Forbes was the first prominent news outlet to incorporate promoted content into its website. Forbes started the AdVoice program in 2010. The program, which changed its name to BrandVoice, propelled Forbes’s 2012 revenue to its highest level in a five-year period.

Native advertising should be clearly labeled and disclosed as sponsored or promoted content. When it is not, readers can mistake the ads for legitimate news articles, damaging their trust in the site.

The Atlantic ran a native ad for the Church of Scientology in 2013. Although the ad was labeled “sponsor content,” it matched the design style of the Atlantic’s editorial content, which misled readers into thinking it was a journalism piece. The news website pulled the ad within the day, issuing an apology to readers. The Atlantic’s major error demonstrates the potential deception of readers that can occur as editorial and advertising content blend together.

As native advertising continued to evolve, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) intervened. In 2015, the FTC issued an enforcement policy on “deceptively formatted advertisements” and a guide for businesses on navigating native advertising. The FTC stressed that publishers and brands must effectively identify commercial content so consumers can discern what they are reading. In the 2020s, the FTC updated its regulatory framework to include revised endorsement guidelines and to define the use of reviews and testimonials from consumers.


Bibliography

Burton, Joe. “The Psychology Behind Native Advertising.” Forbes, 6 Sept. 2024, www.forbes.com/councils/forbesagencycouncil/2024/09/06/the-psychology-behind-native-advertising/. Accessed 6 Mar. 2026.

Farnworth, Demian. “12 Examples of Native Ads (And Why They Work).” Copyblogger, 14 Apr. 2014, www.copyblogger.com/examples-of-native-ads/. Accessed 6 Mar. 2026.

“The FTC’s Endorsement Guides: Being Up-Front with Consumers.” Federal Trade Commission, www.ftc.gov/news-events/topics/truth-advertising/advertisement-endorsements. Accessed 6 Mar. 2026.

Interactive Advertising Bureau. 2025 Outlook Study: A Snapshot into U.S. Ad Spend, Opportunities, and Strategies for Growth. Jan. 2025, www.iab.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/IAB_Outlook_-Study_January_16_2025_v2.pdf. Accessed 6 Mar. 2026.

Mansfield, Matt. “What Is Native Advertising?” Small Business Trends, 17 Oct. 2023, smallbiztrends.com/2015/05/what-is-native-advertising.html. Accessed 6 Mar. 2026.

“Native Advertising Market Size, Share | Industry Report, 2033.” Grand View Research, June 2025, www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/native-advertising-market-report/toc. Accessed 6 Mar. 2026.

“The Native Advertising Playbook.” Interactive Advertising Bureau, 4 Dec. 2013, www.iab.net/media/file/IAB-Native-Advertising-Playbook2.pdf. Accessed 6 Mar. 2026.

O’Brien, James. “4 Native Ads the Media’s Talking About.” Mashable, mashable.com/2014/09/30/native-ad-campaigns/. Accessed 6 Mar. 2026.

Pulizzi, Joe. “The Ultimate Guide to Native Advertising.” LinkedIn, 7 Jan. 2014, www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140107180859-5853751-the-ultimate-guide-to-native-advertising. Accessed 6 Mar. 2026.

Ratcliff, Christopher. “What Is Native Advertising, and Do You Need It?” Econsultancy, 5 Nov. 2013, econsultancy.com/blog/63722-what-is-native-advertising-and-do-you-need-it. Accessed 6 Mar. 2026.

Sherbin, Mark. “How Your Content Distribution Can Use Native Advertising.” Content Marketing Institute, 20 Jan. 2013, contentmarketinginstitute.com/2013/01/content-marketing-and-native-advertising/. Accessed 6 Mar. 2026.

Thornton, Terri. “Native Advertising Shows Great Potential, but Blurs Editorial Lines.” MediaShift, 2 Apr. 2013, mediashift.org/2013/04/native-advertising-shows-great-potential-but-blurs-editorial-lines092/. Accessed 6 Mar. 2026.

“Trade Regulation Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials.” Federal Trade Commission, www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/r311003consumerreviewstestimonialsfinalrulefrn.pdf. Accessed 6 Mar. 2026.

“Types and Formats of Native Advertising in 2025.” Native Advertising Institute, 13 Feb. 2025, www.nativeadvertisinginstitute.com/blog/types-of-native-advertising. Accessed 6 Mar. 2026.

Wasserman, Todd. “This Infographic Explains What Native Advertising Is.” Mashable, 13 Dec. 2012, mashable.com/2012/12/13/infographic-native-advertising/. Accessed 6 Mar. 2026.

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