Native Advertising in the First Inning

As a follow-up to my earlier post about the emergence of Native Advertising as a leading medium for online marketers, Forbes announced this week that Sponsored Content now comprises 20% of its total advertising revenue. Forbes introduce "BrandVoice" (originally AdVoice) in 2010 with plans to "blow up the traditional publishing-advertising model" (AdAge Article) by allowing advertisers to publish their own stories to the magazines website instead of just appearing in Banners/Skyscrappers. It seems they are on their way to do just that! The BrandVoice revenue helped Forbes Digital Ad Revenue surpass its Print in 2013 and they are forecasting BrandVoice to grow to 30% of revenue next year.

However, as I alluded to in my earlier post, the growth in this form of advertising is not without controversy. Some media critics argue that Forbes, and some of their better known counterparts actively participating in the Native Advertising market, are severely jeopardizing the traditional strong advertising/editorial wall. Blurring the solid line that exists between advertising and editorial content jeopardizes the trusted (sometimes "impartial") voice that many readers rely on when they visit the websites of these content creators. While the "definition" of Native Advertising is still open to debate (there have been some recent symposiums on the topic - hosted by IAB and FTC), it is generally content produced by or on behalf of a marketer that appears in a forming matching the traditional content on a webpage).

We expect to see more growth in the Native Advertising arena. A study by Sharethrough and the IPG Media Lab of 4,770 consumers on their responses to Native Advertising formats confirmed that readers pay more attention to marketing messages that match the content around them (the study tracked eye movements). According to This Forbes Article from May 2013, "study subjects were 25% more likely to look at native ads than they were banners, and they looked at them 53% more frequently, checking them out 4.1 times per session versus 2.7% for banners." Additionally they were more likely to share the ad and had higher purchase intent post view. With results like that, it's not surprising then that more established players are joining in the mix including The Washington Post which has introduced BrandConnect. There is even talk that the New York Times may soon introduced some form of Sponsored Content. According to Forbes Chief Product Officer Lewis DVorkin, "We're in the first inning."