THE NATIVE ADVERTISING PLAYBOOKSIX NATIVE AD CATEGORIES, SIX MARKETPLACE CONSIDERATIONS,AND IAB RECOMMENDED DISCLOSURE PRINCIPLESThis paper provides the industry with a framework for thinking about and discussing current native advertising options
with the goal of eliminating marketplace confusion and thereby helping sellers sell and buyers buy. Importantly, it also
provides Recommended Industry Guidance for Advertising Disclosure and Transparency for ad units most often
described as ‘native.’
This will serve as the basis for future IAB initiatives in the native advertising space to provide greater clarity to the market.
Anchoring this initiative will be a series of IAB industry workshops in 2014 focusing on the most pressing aspects of thenative advertising ecosystem.

DECEMBER 4, 2013

CONTENTS
1.

Introduction

2.

The Two Sides of Native Advertising

3.

Ad Units: The Core Six Types

4.

The IAB Native Ad Evaluation Framework: The Core Six Questions Marketers Should Ask

5.

Recommended IAB Native Advertising Disclosure Principles

6.

Conclusion

7.

Appendix11. INTRODUCTION
Native advertising has emerged both as an exciting new way for digital marketers to engage with theconsumer, and as a new source of advertising revenue for publishers. “What is native advertising?” is aquestion that the industry has, almost frantically, been looking to answer since the term was first coined.
While countless definitions have been proposed by nearly every industry insider, company, andjournalist, no universally agreed-upon one has surfaced. This is because, to a large extent, native is in
the eye of the beholder, depending on where one sits in the ecosystem and the strategic and media
objectives of the marketer.
This lack of agreement has caused confusion in the marketplace leading the industry to exert
considerable time and energy debating whether or not various ad units are native rather than focusing
on higher level discussions such as effectiveness and disclosure.
The 100+ member companies on the IAB Task Force convened with the goal of developing a frameworkthat allows the industry to speak a common language on the subject. Members discussed at length thevariety of ad units currently being sold to marketers as being “native” and identified the six main types
that can fall under this category today.
With an ecosystem framework finally in place, the Task Force then identified six key questions that every
marketer should ask when evaluating the various ad unit types. Task Force members broke out into
smaller working groups by ad unit type to lay out what marketers should generally expect from that adunit type. Core differences by type emerged that are important for marketers to understand whenevaluating the various options being offered.
As it relates to advertising disclosure there was no disagreement amongst members that regardless ofcontext, a reasonable consumer should be able to distinguish between what is a paid native advertising
unit vs. what is publisher editorial content. The IAB has provided an overarching Native Advertising
Disclosure Principle Statement. This statement takes into account feedback from the IAB Public Policy
Office led by the IAB General Counsel, Mike Zaneis.
The Task Force was led by Susan Borst and Peter Minnium from the IAB, and member co-chairs, Patrick
Albano from Yahoo and Dan Greenberg from Sharethrough.

2

“There is a renaissance underway in digitaladvertising that is driving brands, publishers andconsumers to communicate with each other inmore personal and natural ways. Native
advertising is an important piece of this evolution.
The IAB Native Advertising task force set out toprovide guidance based on the state of theindustry today while leaving room for flexibility toinspire innovation and growth."“The IAB Native Advertising playbook not onlyoffers a clear and concise overview of thenative landscape, but also provides the type of
guidance we need to ensure that native
campaigns deliver high value to marketers,
publishers, social media platforms andtechnology providers, as well as the consumers
they aim to reach.”– Dan Greenberg, Sharethrough- Patrick Albano, Yahoo

To note, it is intended that this report will be updated as necessary to reflect changing market conditions
and also function as a jumping off point for deeper exploration on a variety topics related to native
advertising.
Our belief is that this framework will move the industry beyond the “native or not” discussion, thus helping
sellers sell and buyers buy. With a framework that the industry can agree on, we can finally focus on
deeper dives into the areas that will help ensure continued growth of this new native paid ad ecosystem.

2. THE TWO SIDES OF NATIVE ADVERTISING
Native advertising is a concept encompassing both an aspiration as well as a suite of ad products. It isclear that most advertisers and publishers 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 feelsthat they belong. To achieve this, advertisers deploy tactical ad products, and the IAB Native Task Force has
identified the six categories of ad unit types most commonly used today in pursuit of this goal.

33. NATIVE ADS: THE CORE SIX
At present, six types of ad units are most commonly deployed to achieve native objectives. They are listed herewith examples from companies who deploy them regularly:

In-Feed Units

Paid Search Units

Recommendation Widgets

4Promoted Listings

In-Ad (IAB Standard) with Native Element Units

Custom /”Can’t Be Contained”

5

4. THE IAB NATIVE EVALUATION FRAMEWORK: THE CORE 6
QUESTIONS
When evaluating native advertising options, marketers should ask six core questions to ensure that a unit will meet thebrand’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 in which it isplaced? Does it deliver the same type of content experience, e.g., a video on a video
page or story among stories, or is it different?

INTEGRATION – How well do the ad unit’s behaviors match those of the surrounding
content? Are they the same, e.g., linking to an on-site story page, or are new ones
introduced?

BUYING & TARGETING– Is the ad placement guaranteed on a specific page, section, orsite, or will it be delivered across a network of sites? What type of targeting is available?

MEASUREMENT – What metrics are typically used to judge success? Are marketers more
likely to use top-of-the-funnel brand engagement metrics (e.g., views, likes, shares, timespent) or bottom funnel ones (e.g., sale, download, data capture, register, etc.?)

DISCLOSURE – Is the disclosure clear and prominent?

6

THE IAB NATIVE ADVERTISINGEVALUATION FRAMEWORK

IN-FEED ADS
IAB Native Advertising Evaluation
Framework

It will become quickly apparent to marketers, agencies, and publishers that there will be enormous variation
between native ad unit types and even within them, based on the execution. For this reason, Task Forcemembers find it helpful to view these categories across IAB Native Evaluation Framework continuums.

This framework is meant to allow buyers and sellers to have a common language to discuss ad products inthe context of native, not to provide a definitive scaling mechanism for the industry. Native is in the eye ofthe beholder, and so is the buying and selling of it, reflecting the infinite variations in advertiser objectives.
As it relates to disclosure considerations, we have identified current market practices for each sub-group withthe most commonly used native ad disclosure language, placement of that language, and any otherdisclosure cues to the consumer. This will vary by native ad type. This does not indicate IAB endorsement of
any specific language, rather, this document solely intends to present a variety of the most commonly useddisclosure language used today.

The IAB’s overarching Recommended Native Advertising Disclosure Principles canbe found in Section 5.
-----------Given the broad spectrum of potential combinations, it is not possible to describe all of them. What follows
are common executions and how they would fit in this framework.

7

IN-FEED ADS, CONTINUED
In-feed ads have perhaps the largest variation in
execution. Here are three common examples and how
they fit into the IAB Native Framework.

IAB Native Advertising Evaluation
FrameworkX#1 -- An endemic in-feed ad that is in a
publisher’s normal content well, is in story form
where the content has been written by or inpartnership with the publisher’s team to matchthe surrounding stories, links to a page within thesite like any editorial story, has been sold with aguaranteed placement so the buyer knows
exactly what context will surround it, and ismeasured on brand metrics such as interaction
and brand lift will fit into this framework as
follows:

X
X
X
X

Examples of this type of in-feed ad include: BuzzFeed, Gawker, Forbes BrandVoice, and Mashable.

X
X
X#2 -- A linked in-feed ad that is in a
publisher’s normal content well; is apromotional ad; links off of the site tocontent, editorial content, or brand’s landing
page; has been sold with a guaranteed
placement; and is measured by CTR andconversions maps out in this way:

X
X
Examples of this type of In-feed ad include: YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, Sharethrough, and LinkedIn.

8

#3 -- An in-feed ad that is in a publisher’s
normal content well; is in story form to matchthe surrounding stories and allows for anindividual to play, read, view, or watch withoutleaving to a separate page; has been sold in a
broad section (e.g., sports) and not aguaranteed placement (e.g. NFL Highlightspage); and is measured on brand metrics suchas interaction and brand lift will fit into thisframework as follows

X
X
X
X
X

Examples of this type of In-feed ad include: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and Sharethrough.

Commonly Used Disclosure Language
Commonly used disclosure language for in-feed ads includes: “Advertisement” or “AD“ (Google,
YouTube), “Promoted” or “Promoted by [brand]” (Twitter, Sharethrough), “Sponsored” or “Sponsored by[brand]” or “Sponsored Content” (LinkedIn, Yahoo), “Presented by [brand]” + “Featured Partner” tag(BuzzFeed, Huffington Post), and “Suggested Post” + a “Sponsored” tag (Facebook).

9SEARCH ADSWhile the content and format of organic search engine results
IAB Native Advertising Evaluation
varies depending on the search engine and the platform
Frameworkthrough which the service is being accessed (desktop, mobile,tablet, etc.), there is one definitive principle that defines an ad
as native: native ads in search must present their content in a format and layout that is readily available toorganic search engine results.
One common type of paid search ad
will be found above the organic search
results, look exactly like the surrounding
results (with the exception of disclosure
aspects), link to a page like the organic
results, has been sold with a guaranteed
placement so the agency knows exactly
what context will surround it, and ismeasured on conversion metrics such asa purchase. This would fit into the IAB
framework as follows:

X
X
X
X
X

Commonly Used Disclosure Language
Search unit disclosures are specifically covered under FTC guidance and have been so since 2002. Per the FTC,
consumers ordinarily expect that natural search results are included and ranked based on relevance to a search
query not on payment from a third party. Including or ranking a search result in whole or in part based on payment is
a form of advertising. To avoid the potential for deception, consumers should be able to easily distinguish a natural
search result from advertising that a search engine delivers. An update to the 2002 guidelines was recently issued,
but the principles remain the same and now include guidance on audio search (e.g., Siri). The official FTC guidance
reports can be found in the Appendix. Specific FTC guidance stipulates that such a disclosure: (1) uses language that
explicitly and unambiguously conveys whether a search result is advertising; (2) is large and visible enough forconsumers to notice it; and (3) is located near the search result (or group of search results) that it qualifies and where
consumers will see it.
Commonly used disclosure language using “pizza” as a search word includes: “Ads related to pizza,” shaded with
AdChoices icon – Google; “Ads related to pizza”, shaded – Yahoo; “All links will open in new tabs. Click to opt
out.” dark purple shading – Bing.

10

RECOMMENDATIONWIDGETSIAB Native Advertising Evaluation
Framework
Recommendation widgets are a form of native advertisingwhere an ad or paid content link is delivered via a “widget.”

X
X
X
X

A common recommendation widget unit
is integrated into the main well of thepage, does not mimic the appearance ofthe editorial content feed, links to a pageoff the site, has not been sold with aguaranteed placement, and is measuredon brand metrics such as interaction andbrand lift, and will fit into this framework
as follows:

X
Commonly Used Disclosure Language

These units contain up to three disclosure cues.
o Cue #1 - This language is typically found above the listings in bold type:"You might also like" or "You might like", “Elsewhere from around the web" or "From around theweb", "You may have missed", "Recommended for you"o Cue #2 - The name of the sponsor or the destination site is placed after the visual and/or theheadline in the unit, noting that this format may contain both local and third-party content in thesame overall unit.
o Cue #3 - If served via a third party, the technology provider may also include their company nameor logo to further indicate to consumers that the content contained therein is not coming from thepublisher. E.g.,- Recommended by Outbrain- Sponsored content by Taboola

11

PROMOTED LISTINGSIAB Native Advertising Evaluation
Framework

While these units are found on sites that typically do not have a traditional editorial content well, they aredesigned to fit seamlessly into the browsing experience, are presented to look identical to the products orservices offered on a given site, link to a special brand/product page, are typically bought on auction
directly via the publisher, are hyper-contextually targeted, and are measured on direct response metrics.
This typical execution would fit into the IAB Native Framework as follows:

X
X
X
X
X
Examples include: Google Promoted Listing Ads, Foursquare, AutoTrader and Amazon.

Commonly Used Disclosure Language
Commonly used disclosure language for Promoted Listings includes: “Ads” with icon (Google); “Yelp Ad”;
“Sponsored Products”– Amazon; and “Product Ads from External Websites”/Sponsored Content/”What’s
this?” link – Amazon.

12

IN-AD (IAB STANDARD)IAB Native Advertising Evaluation
Framework

An ad in a standard IAB container that is placed outside of the editorial well, contains contextually relevant
content within the ad, links to an offsite page, has been sold with a guaranteed placement so the agency
knows exactly what content will surround it, and is measured on brand metrics such as interaction and brandlift would fit into the IAB Native Framework as follows:

X
X
X
X
X

Commonly Used Disclosure Language
IAB Standard Ads with native elements follow the same specific labeling requirements as all IAB Standard
Ads: ad unit content must be clearly distinguishable from normal webpage content (i.e., ad unit must haveclearly defined borders and not be confused with normal page content).

13

CUSTOM / CAN’T BE
CONTAINEDIAB Native Advertising Evaluation
Framework

In the world of native advertising execution, there is no limit to the possibilities when an advertiser andpublisher work together on custom units. This group includes examples that don’t neatly fit into one of theabove groups, or, as in the case of custom playlists, are too platform-specific to warrant their own category
but need to be on a marketer’s radar as native advertising options.
In terms of the continuum, these can take on many forms but in all instances will be custom to a specific site.

X14

5. RECOMMENDED IAB NATIVE ADVERTISING DISCLOSURE
PRINCIPLES

Regardless of native advertising unit type, the IAB advocates that, forpaid native ad units, clarity and prominence of the disclosure isparamount.
The disclosure must:--

Use language that conveys that the advertising has been paid for, thus making
it an advertising unit, even if that unit does not contain traditional promotional
advertising messages.
Be large and visible enough for a consumer to notice it in the context of a given
page and/or relative to the device that the ad is being viewed on.

Simply put: Regardless of context, a reasonable consumer should be able todistinguish between what is paid advertising vs. what is publisher editorial content.

The native advertising landscape is rapidly evolving, with publishers working with advertisers to create
increasingly effective ad experiences. Consumer perceptions of these ad products are changing as well, as
viewers become accustomed and more experienced interacting with brands in new ways. For this reason,
it is not possible to recommend a single, one-size-fits-all disclosure mechanism for each native sub-group. It
is possible, however, to demand adherence to the core principle that regardless of context, a reasonableconsumer should be able to distinguish between what is a paid native advertising unit vs. what is publisher
editorial content.

15

6. CONCLUSION
There is a great deal of excitement about what “native” has brought to display advertising. First and foremost, display
advertising has been freed from the right rail and leaderboard to which it has long been confined and now has license
to settle anywhere on the page. Moving forward, display advertising will not be forced back into solely those positions.
A corollary benefit of this move is getting advertising into the user’s natural activity stream—where print and TV
advertising have always been.
Finally, native is decidedly and overwhelmingly a form of brand advertising and, as such, will enable marketers to betteruse digital marketing to meet the full range of their communications needs, from branding to direct marketing. By
providing a framework for the buyers and sellers of native advertising, this prospectus is an important first step in thedevelopment of this category, which will surely continue to evolve.
IAB will convene a series of four quarterly workshops in 2014 with experts from across the ecosystem—publishers,
platforms, technology providers, agencies, academics, and researchers—to aid in the further advancement of effective
native advertising.

16

A Note on Additional Publisher Disclosure Initiatives
In addition to language, shading, or other visual cues associated withnative ads, many publishers also include additional disclosure cues such asa separate roll-over link using language such as “What’s this?” to provide
the consumer with additional information on the origin of the content in thead. The language typically makes it clear that the ad content did not comefrom the publisher’s editorial staff and may also include a statement suchas “The content may not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editorial
staff.”
As native advertising continues to gain momentum, many publishers arerevising their own advertising guidelines to make it clear to advertisers andthird party suppliers that all paid native ads need to be disclosed as suchconsistent with their guidelines.

APPENDIX• A Note on Additional
Publisher Disclosure
Initiatives• Disclosure GuidanceReferences – IAB and
FTC• About the IAB and theNative Advertising
Task Force• About the IAB Public
Policy Council• Disclosure GuidanceReferences – IAB and
FTC

17

IAB Display Ads Guidelines

FTC Advertising Guidance References
•
•
•
•
•

Original Search Engine Disclosure Guidelines (6.27.2002.)
Updates to the FTC Search Engine Advertising guidance (6.25.2013)
Original Dot Com Disclosures Guidelines (2000)
Updates to the FTC Dot Com Disclosures Guidelines (3.12.2013)
The FTC Endorsements and Testimonials Guides,

18About the IAB
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) is comprised of more than 500 leading media and technology companies thatare responsible for selling 86% of online advertising in the United States. On behalf of its members, the IAB is dedicatedto the growth of the interactive advertising marketplace, of interactive’s share of total marketing spend, and of its
members’ share of total marketing spend. The IAB educates marketers, agencies, media companies and the wider
business community about the value of interactive advertising. Working with its member companies, the IAB evaluates
and recommends standards and practices and fields critical research on interactive advertising. Founded in 1996, theIAB is headquartered in New York City with a Public Policy office in Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit
www.iab.net.
The IAB has six core objectives:•

Fend off adverse legislation and regulation•

Coalesce around market-making measurement guidelines and creative standards•

Create common ground with customers to reduce costly friction in the supply chain•

Share best practices that foster industry-wide growth•

Generate industry-wide research and thought leadership that solidifies Interactive as a mainstream medium•

Create countervailing force to balance power of other media, marketing, and agency trade groups

About the IAB Native Advertising Task ForceThis Task Force, formed in July 2013, was developed specifically to establish this framework for the native advertising'pace that clearly lays out today's native landscape, including recommended disclosure principles.
Participation is open to all IAB members, with a select group of agency (media, creative, PR) and academic advisors
who also contributed to the final output. Over 100 member companies representing legacy publishers, digital native
publishers, social networks, and technology providers are represented on the Task Force, with senior level participants
contributing to the writing.
Member companies on the Task Force can be found here:
http://www.iab.net/member_center/committees/working_groups/native_advertising_task_force

The IAB’s Public Policy office, located in Washington, D.C., advocates for our members and promotes thevalue of the interactive advertising industry to legislators and policymakers. The council strives to keep
members informed about important policy-related events through participation in the Public Policy Council andby developing timely issue briefs and legal analysis of key proposals.
The Public Policy Council, led at the IAB by Mike Zaneis, IAB Senior Legal Counsel, contributed to the IAB
Recommended Disclosure Principles statement.
More information on the IAB Public Policy Council can be found here:
http://www.iab.net/public_policy/home19