Display and Native Advertising

Display advertising and native advertising are two of the most common form of digital ads used by marketers. Both types are inserted into online publications, and geared to receive clicks from viewers. However, there are crucial differences between display advertising and native advertising.

Display advertising refers to ad content which stands out as paid media. Marketers/advertisers purchase ad spots either manually or programmatically (through automated ad exchanges) to showcase their content. Display ads appear as banners, pop-up billboards, or even videos. These can be clearly distinguished as ad content by the viewer. Display ads may include:

• Rich media: Automated videos, or interactive static banners which expand on hover
• Interstitial content: Pop-up ads which appear between activities and take over the full screen
   

Native advertising is not clearly distinguishable as paid content at first glance. The ad follows a format similar to the content of the publication where it is displayed. For example, a listicle on five benefits of olive oil sponsored by a CPG company may appear on a health and lifestyle publication. Native advertising is known to drive higher click-through rates than display ads but requires a robust content repository to back it up. Native ads may include:

•  In-feed ads on social media
• Paid search units on Google
• Recommendation widgets on publications
• Promoted product listings
• Contextual ads (like the CPG example given above)

Explore all of these types of native advertising in our article: What Is Native Advertising and How to Craft Your 2019 Strategy for Maximum Success.

To know more about native advertising, display ads, and the intricacies of these concepts, read: Programmatic Native vs Display Advertising – 5 ways they differ. You can also scroll down to deep dive into the various advertising trends and technologies at play today though news, views and resources.