Member Research: Redefining the value of native advertising

As native grows, and so must our understanding of it. Back in 2014, Verizon Media ran a comprehensive study looking at the impact of native advertising, but the digital landscape and the way users behave online has changed significantly since then, so they recently took another look in a bid to redefine the value native offers.

In Verizon Media’s recently launched Redefining Native Study 2018, an innovative research methodology was designed to explore the true value of native. The study included behavioural usability tests, implicit association response and the perspectives of a number of industry experts, including a behavioural scientist.

Brand love

A growing number of people are using ad blockers because of disruptive ads, but people are less likely to block if they are served more personalised ads in trusted environments. Brands across Europe risk missing out on huge audiences that use ad blockers - 11m users in the UK, 16m in France and 19m in Germany (Verizon Media - Redefining Native, 2018). 79% of consumers now say they would like to see ads that blend into the page, and 4 in 5 of them accept native ads as a form of content.

Marketers already see some of the performance benefits of native, like increased click through rates, but those performance metrics don't tell the whole story as to the impact quality native advertising can have for brand-building. Propensity to recommend and likelihood to purchase both saw big increases in Verizons Media’s study, for example, with greater trust in premium environments enabling native to deliver a 35% uplift in positive subconscious brand associations.

With native ad spend forecast to increase significantly between 2015 and 2020 it's more important than ever to understand this additional value and how best to leverage native in the digital mix.