This document attempts to define six forms of native advertising, proposes questions that advertisers should ask themselves to make sure the Native formats meet marketing objectives, and provides disclosure guidelines to ensure that consumers do not confuse paid advertising with traditional content.
The IAB notes that this is an evolving form of advertising and there is no consensus definition of what is Native. The IAB has trouble defining the Core Six Formats and how they fit marketers needs since each of these formats can be altered and defined by the media company or technology provider. Marketers and media companies should speak in the same language when talking about the formats in relation to the questions that every marketer should ask.
"Publishers and advertisers aspire to deliver paid ads that are so cohesive with the page content, assimilated into the design, and consistent with the platform behavior that the viewer simply feels that they belong."
"Native is decidedly and overwhelmingly a form of brand advertising and, as such, will enable marketers to better use digital marketing to meet the full range of their communication needs, from branding to direct marketing."
The Core 6 Formats:
In Feed Units - Generally paid posts within a newsfeed. The posts look like the preceding stories (for content producers) or "friend" posts (Twitter & Facebook).
Paid Search Units - Posts correlating with a search inquiry.
Recommendation Widgets - Content recommendation engines that say something along the lines of, "If you liked this content then you may want to try this content."
Promoted Listings - Common on shopping sites but also used in search applications such as Foursquare, they are basically the same as Paid Search and Recommendation Widgets.
In-Ad (IAB Standard) with Native Element Units - IAB Standard units with content feeds or media company branding inside.
Custom/"Can't Be Contained" - Specialized display ad units that are non standard and fit the media company's site.
The Core 6 Questions for marketers to ask to ensure that a unit will meet the brand's objectives:
- Form - How does the ad fit with the overall page design? Is it in the viewer's activity stream or not in-stream?
- Function - Does the ad function like the other elements on the page? Does it deliver the same type of content experience or is it different?
- Integration - How well do the ad unit's behaviors match those of the surrounding content?
- Buying & Targeting - Is the ad placement guaranteed on a specific page, section, or site, or will it be delivered across a network of sites?
- Measurement - What metrics are typically used to judge success? Are marketers using top-of-the-funnel brand engagement metrics like awareness and views or are they using more transnational metrics such as sale, download, register, etc?
- Disclosure - Is the disclosure clear and prominent? Does the audience know that it is an ad?
Recommended IAB Native Advertising Disclosure Principles (Simply put): Regardless of context, a reasonable consumer should be able to distinguish between what is paid advertising vs. what is publisher content.
Sample disclosure statements can be found in the original document.
