Outbrain @ Cross Media Congres 2020- The State of Native 2020

This we took part at the Cross Media Congres hosted by Nederlands Media Netwerk. Our Managing Director International, Alexander Erlmeier, presented three of the biggest digital advertising trends. While Native have seen massive growth, there is still some untapped potential in terms of media buying and formats.

1.Programmatic + Native

Programmatic is the preferred form of buying display ads across the globe. In most of the main regions, three fourths of display ads are bought programmatically. And it won’t be long until we will see the same ad buying in Native as well. We already had some remarkable growth rates for Programmatic Native in the United States - usually, the US media buying trends indicate shifts we will see in Europe in the near future as well. Programmatic Native combines the efficiency of Programmatic (scaling ad campaigns and reaching hundred millions of people through one dashboard) with the effectiveness of Native (less disrupting formats, high engagement).

2.Native Video

Video is the preferred way we consume media online. Cisco estimates that 80% of the online traffic will be video this year. So far, the advertising industry has not lived up to that potential. Forcing users to watch recycled TV spots no matter the format (pre-roll, autoplay, in-feed) will lead to annoyed consumers and video blindness - a phenomenon we saw growing in the last years with display banners: consumers don’t pay attention to the content or the brand, they skip disrupting ads automatically. Leveraging the potential of digital media, i.e. introducing interactive videos or click-to-watch formats, can bring back the attention and make video advertising exciting again. Native will play an important role as it does not disrupt the users but gives them choice.

3.Native Audio

More and more people consume podcasts. In the Netherlands, the majority of podcast listeners spend more than 4 hours a week listening to digital audio formats. For the first time, marketers need to consider the audio characteristics of their brand. Some brands already introduced their own podcasts and benefit from the high trust towards these formats. While only 12% of Dutch consumers trust Vloggers, more than 90% trust podcasters. At Outbrain, currently we are also experimenting with podcast implementations in our Smartfeeds (for now only for our publisher partners).

The User Comes First

All trends have one thing in common: the ad experience is becoming more important than ever. Research shows that negative ad experiences lead to negative attitudes towards the advertising brand. The ad experience is already a part of the brand experience. On top of that, we can only establish a sustainable ecosystem if we consider all three parts: the publishers, the advertisers and most importantly the consumers. Brands and channels will prevail only if they respect the consumer.

You can see Alexander’s full presentation here.