Native advertising matches the look, feel and behaviour of the digital medium in which it appears. It should always be marked as advertising but even then it is less obtrusive than traditional display advertising and less jarring to the user.
What Types of Native Advertising are there?
Native
Our native ads consist of an image, line of text with advertiser brand name. Here is a working demonstration of a native ad: click to visit the advertiser’s page. Native ad units are not fixed size and can be designed to fit on any space of a publishers page, the units can also scale depending on whether the user is on a small (mobile) or large (desktop) screen.
Video
Native Video and Apple News Video ads are also styled to fit with the host medium:
Podcast
Native Podcast ads are similar to video units but play a podcast instead of a short video:
Other types of native advertising
Other types of native ads include our Canvas (these have a much longer field for ad text or compliance warnings), Native Verified (which show a challenge to the user to confirm their details or the required attribute before sending them on to the advertiser’s site) and Content Hub ads (which are a combination of native and native video ads in a large display-style advertising unit).
How do you Recognise Native Advertising?
Native advertising should always be marked as paid advertising. Dianomi native units will often be marked with headlines such as “Paid Partner Content”, “Sponsored Financial Content” or “Sponsored Content”.
Lower quality native ad units are known as a chumbox.
What does the IAB say about Native Advertising?
“Native advertising has grown to become among the largest and fastest growing areas of digital advertising.”
“The distinction between native ads and standards ads is the ability of native to follow the natural design, location and ad behavior of the environment in which it was placed with content that provides a relevant consumer experience in the context of the page the ad lives on.”
Where is Native Advertising found?
Native advertising is now found on almost every digital publisher in the world. Dianomi’s native ads can be found on all of our partner publishers, examples of our native ads can be seen on these pages from CNN Business, Market Index, DividendMax and Dollars & Sense.
Who uses Native Advertising?
Dianomi work with 7 out 10 of the top financial stock market news sites, read more about Financial services marketing
We work with 8 out of 10 of the world’s largest asset management companies
We serve 8.4B+ native ad impressions each month across our owned and operated inventory
We deliver 5.3M+ valid user clicks each month across our owned and operated inventory
How can you use Native Advertising?
Cost Per Click Native Advertising is extremely efficient for acquisition campaigns: paying Cost Per Click means only paying if a user engages with the ad.
Native Advertising on premium websites is also very effective for Content Marketing campaigns and many premium brands use Dianomi to distribute their content.
Although Native Advertising may not have the same brand impact as large, above-the-fold Display banners, many marketers now regard “performance branding” (ie using widespread performance ads such as Native Cost Per Click to reinforce branding) as a legitimate tactic.
Are there any scientific studies showing the benefits of Native Advertising?
Sharethrough and IPG Media labs 2015
In 2015 Sharethrough and IPG Media labs surveyed 4,770 consumers and used eye-tracking technology to assess the attention of 200 consumers to understand attitudes and attention around native advertising.
Key Findings • Consumers looked at native ads 53% more frequently than display ads. • 25% more consumers were measured to look at in-feed native ad placements (the most common editorial native ad format) than display ad units. • Native ads registered 18% higher lift in purchase intent and 9% lift for brand affinity responses than banner ads • 32% of respondents said the native ad “is an ad I would share with a friend of family member” versus just 19% for display ads.
Abstract: Native advertising and storytelling are both increasingly popular advertising strategies. This research explores the effectiveness of storytelling in a native advertising context on social media. While most research recommends the use of stories as a way to build trust and relationships with consumers, the current research suggests that in the form of native ads on social media, narratives may be less effective when compared to informational native ads. Two studies find that even when advertising cues such as disclosure labels and brand presence are prominently located, consumers are less likely to recognize the advertising nature of narrative native ads when compared to informational native ads. Lower levels of advertising recognition are associated with increased perceptions of manipulative intentions by the advertiser, which has a negative influence on consumers’ attitudes toward the ad. The findings suggest that native ads that clearly communicate their advertising nature through cues such as an informational execution, high brand presence, and prominent disclosure labeling are more effective than a narrative execution style.
Abstract: Online native advertising is increasingly targeted based on people’s online behavior. This study examines the effects of online behaviorally targeted native advertising on ad and brand responses. In addition, it tests two competing explanatory mechanisms that are suggested in the literature on online behavioral advertising that may result in opposing persuasion outcomes: perceived personal relevance of the advertisement and understanding of online behavioral advertising as a persuasive tactic. An experiment showed that behaviorally targeted native advertising resulted in higher perceived personal relevance than native advertising, which consequently had a positive effect on persuasion (i.e., ad and brand responses). Although behaviorally targeted native advertising (versus native advertising) induced persuasion knowledge of online behavioral advertising as a persuasion tactic, this did not negatively affect persuasion. This study provides new insights into the theoretical mechanisms that explain behaviorally targeted native advertising effects and has implications for the advertising practice.
Native advertising in the news
The Psychology Behind Native Advertising – Forbes, Sep 2024
“Native advertising is also one of the few strategies that actually respects a user’s experience. Instead of grasping for attention, native ads feel like they’re trying to tell you about something. That’s why they’re so effective. If you want to reach people who aren’t actively searching for your product but could still benefit from it, native advertising is the way to go.”
“If there’s one thing I want you to take away from this, it’s that native marketing is an effective way to reach new audiences when approached with the right mindset. Learn about your audience and be creative in your delivery. Sell to the need, not just the product. And above all, don’t mislead people—build trust by delivering real value. When you do that, native advertising becomes a serious tool in your ad strategy.”
The Psychology Behind High-Performing Native Ads – Dianomi, March 2025
In today’s crowded digital space, grabbing attention requires more than just a great product – it’s about understanding exactly what makes people click, engage, and convert. The most effective native ads don’t just look good; they tap into key psychological triggers that drive action.
At Dianomi, we’ve spent years analysing what makes native ads successful. We’ve fined-tuned strategies that consistently deliver qualified clicks and higher conversions. Here are some of the most effective psychological principles behind top-performing native ads…
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