By: Will Bolles

Let’s start with the basics: a native ad is an ad unit that is aligned with the look and feel of the webpage it’s served alongside. This positioning gives the ad a sense of belonging in the surrounding content and thus creates a less disruptive advertising experience, which in turn helps to increase click rates.

Programmatic native advertising refers to ad units that buyers can deploy while also layering on geo, contextual, or audience data. Even with the upcoming depreciation of cookies, native ads aren’t going anywhere—rather, spending in this format will only increase as advertisers look to invest in marketing that doesn’t depend on the third-party cookie.

Looking at native ads across the industry, spending has grown in double digits YoY over the last few years. According to eMarketer, in 2021, advertisers spent $118.72 billion on display advertising, with 64% of this ad spending dedicated to native display ad placements. In 2022, eMarketer has forecasted a 14.9% increase YoY in native display ad spending, reaching $87.6 billion.

As a former buyer at Basis Technologies, I saw firsthand the results of programmatic native advertising. The feature itself comes with incredible ease of use, as buyers can build and deploy native ads all within Basis DSP.

Native advertising sees higher click-through rates than standard display ads due to its seamless integration into the content the ads are being served alongside. Beyond just the increase in clicks on native ad units, The Native Advertising Institute found that 38% of Millennials say in-feed native ads make them more likely to purchase the brand featured in the content.

Native advertising is a free (no upcharge) and easy way to not only boost campaign performance, but also to break through the clutter of standard display advertising. Don’t believe me? Try A/B testing banner creative vs native ad units to determine best performance!

Another way to look at programmatic native advertising is through sponsored content. If you have an opportunity to sell sponsored content, look to upsell the package to promote this through programmatic native advertising in the DSP! This is not just a solution, but also an upselling opportunity for what you are already selling on your site. Think of this as a win-win opportunity: more eyeballs as well as more clicks on content!

Be sure to reach out to your team at Basis if you have any questions on how to implement programmatic native. We’re here to help!