Key takeaways
- Native ad networks place your ad inside publisher content, so the ad has to read like content, not like a banner.
- For most DTC brands, Taboola and Outbrain are the first two to test. The others are useful as a second or third channel.
- Judge a network by traffic control, tracking, creative fit and cost control, not by its sales deck.
- The network matters less than the page behind the click. A weak advertorial wastes good traffic on any platform.
- Test one network with several angles before you add a second network.
If you run paid social, you already know how to buy attention on a feed. Native ad networks sell something different: placement inside articles and content pages on publisher sites, in a format that looks like the content around it. This list covers the main native ad networks and platforms a DTC brand might use, who each one suits, and the catch with each. It is written for founders and growth leads who depend on Meta and want a second channel that does not move with every Meta change. Nativize builds and runs campaigns on Taboola and Outbrain, so read those two entries with that in mind. We say where the others fit anyway.
Why this list exists
Most lists of native ad networks are written by the networks themselves, or by sites that earn a fee for each signup. They rank by size and by features, which is not how a DTC brand should choose.
A native ad is a paid ad that matches the look and feel of the page it appears on. On a news site it looks like a recommended story: a small image, a headline, and a publisher or brand name. The click usually goes to an advertorial, which is an advertisement laid out as an article. If you want the full background, see our guide to what native advertising is and how an advertorial works.
This list asks a narrower question: if you sell physical products online, where should you spend your first test budget, and what will annoy you once you do?
How we judged these native ad networks
We did not rank by traffic volume or brand name. We judged each network on the things that decide whether a DTC test works or burns money. We did not run a scored benchmark, so treat this as a framework, not a leaderboard.
- Fit for DTC: does the network commonly serve product-led advertisers, or is it mostly built for publishers and brand awareness?
- Traffic control: can you see which sites send you clicks, and block the ones that do not convert?
- Tracking and optimisation: does it support conversion tracking (a pixel or server-side signal that tells the network which clicks became orders) and bidding that learns from it?
- Creative fit: does it work well with the image-plus-headline format and with advertorial landing pages?
- Cost control: can you set budgets and bids so a test cannot run away? Check current minimums and pricing on the network itself, as these change.
- Policy and approval: how strict is review, and how clear are the rules for health, beauty and finance-adjacent products?
- Effort to run: how much setup and maintenance does it need from a small team?
Taboola
What it is
Taboola is a content discovery network. It places your ad in recommendation widgets (the boxes of suggested stories) at the bottom or side of articles on publisher sites. You buy on a cost-per-click basis, which means you pay when someone clicks, not when the ad is shown.
Who it suits
DTC brands with a product that can be explained in a short story: a problem, a reason it happens, a solution. It is a common first choice for e-commerce because it supports conversion tracking and lets you split traffic by publisher. Our guide to how Taboola ads work and how to run a first campaign walks through setup, and the Taboola pricing post covers cost.
The catch
Traffic quality varies a lot by source, so you have to review placements and block weak ones. It also punishes thin landing pages. If you send clicks straight to a product page, expect a cold reception. Most brands need an advertorial in between.
Outbrain
What it is
Outbrain is the other long-established content recommendation network. It works on the same basic model as Taboola: your ad appears as a suggested story on publisher sites, and you pay per click.
Who it suits
Brands that already have a working advertorial and want a second source of the same style of traffic. Because the formats are close, creative built for one network usually needs only small changes for the other. Our post on what Outbrain is and how it works covers the basics, and Taboola vs Outbrain explains how to test both without mixing up the results.
The catch
Its publisher mix is not the same as Taboola's, so the same advertorial can behave differently. Do not assume a result on one network will carry over. Treat it as a separate test with its own budget.
MGID
What it is
MGID is a native advertising platform that also sells recommendation-widget placements on publisher sites, with self-serve tools for performance advertisers.
Who it suits
Brands that want more places to buy after Taboola and Outbrain, or that want to try a network with a different publisher mix. Our post on what MGID is and how it works for e-commerce brands goes deeper.
The catch
Quality control matters more here. Check which sources send your traffic from day one, keep early budgets small, and be ready to cut weak placements quickly. Check policy rules for your product category before you build creative.
How dependent is your brand on Meta?Get your Native Ads Readiness Score and Platform Dependency Score in 2 minutes. It is free.
Take the testRevcontent
What it is
Revcontent is a content recommendation network. Like the others above, it shows sponsored stories in widgets on publisher pages and bills by click.
Who it suits
Performance advertisers who already have tested angles and landing pages and want to add a further source of native traffic. It makes more sense as a third or fourth channel than as a first one.
The catch
Every extra network means another account, another set of policies, another tracking setup and another report to read. If your tracking is not clean on one network, adding Revcontent only multiplies the confusion.
Yahoo native ads
What it is
Yahoo sells native ad placements across Yahoo-owned properties and partner inventory, bought through its advertising platform. Part of this is programmatic, meaning ad space is bought automatically through bidding systems instead of by choosing individual sites. See our programmatic native advertising post for how that works.
Who it suits
Brands that want a native channel with more audience-style targeting and are comfortable with a platform that works more like a demand-side tool than a simple widget network.
The catch
It usually takes more setup and more knowledge of the platform than a first Taboola test. Check current account requirements and available formats on Yahoo's own documentation before planning budget around it.
Microsoft Advertising native ads
What it is
Microsoft Advertising offers native-style placements across Microsoft properties and partners, managed in the same account many brands already use for search ads.
Who it suits
Brands already running search on Microsoft that want to add a native placement without opening another account and learning a new interface.
The catch
The placement and audience differ from open-web content recommendation networks. The formats and targeting options change over time, so confirm what is currently available for your market. It is a different kind of native, not a substitute for Taboola or Outbrain.
Comparison table
A qualitative comparison. We have left out traffic numbers and prices on purpose, because they change and vary by market. Check each network directly.
| Network | Type | Best first use for a DTC brand | Main catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taboola | Content recommendation network | First native test with advertorials | Needs placement review and a strong landing page |
| Outbrain | Content recommendation network | Second network once an advertorial works | Different publisher mix, so results can differ from Taboola |
| MGID | Native platform with widgets | Extra reach after the first two | Watch traffic sources closely |
| Revcontent | Content recommendation network | Third or fourth channel for proven angles | More accounts and tracking to maintain |
| Yahoo native | Platform with programmatic buying | Brands wanting audience-style targeting | More setup and platform knowledge needed |
| Microsoft Advertising native | Native placements in an ad platform | Brands already running Microsoft search | Different from open-web recommendation traffic |
How Nativize builds the advertorial behind the click
The network gets you the click. The advertorial decides what happens next. Here is how Nativize builds one, step by step.
- Start from the product page URL. Nativize reads the product page itself, not a summary of it.
- Collect customer reviews from the product page and from review sites. Competitor pages or free-text instructions, such as "mention the 30-day guarantee", can be added too.
- Pull out the customer's pain points and the benefits people actually mention, in their own words.
- Propose several marketing angles, normally five or more. An angle is a distinct reason to care: a different problem, audience or story. Each angle becomes its own advertorial, so angles can be tested against each other.
- Set the writing style and target reader before writing, instead of guessing them.
- Write the chosen angle as a sequence of short sections: a headline, a one-line preview, the body and a closing call to action.
- Keep paragraphs short and separate, because one block of text on a phone screen is read by nobody.
- Generate headlines in sets, grade them, and keep only the strongest. Check each against the character limit of the platform it will run on.
- For Meta, audit the ad copy for wording likely to cause policy problems before it is used.
- Upload the product photo and brand logo once per product and reuse them for every angle, so every advertorial shows the same product. Make or choose images per section so each picture supports its paragraph.
- Choose the layout separately from the copy. The two used most are a sidebar layout and a centred layout with a sticky call to action. Brand colours come from the product page.
- Add the "ADVERTORIAL" label bar at the top of every page. Add a health disclaimer only on health products, never by default.
- Export a self-contained page to publish on the advertiser's own domain. Tracking tags (Google Tag Manager, Meta Pixel, GA4 or the advertiser's own script) are added at export only, so reviewing drafts never fires real tracking.
- Let a person edit single paragraphs in the finished page, so a small copy fix does not mean regenerating everything.
- Build several angles in one batch for the same product, then connect the finished advertorials to Taboola campaigns.
This describes a method, not a promise of results. For examples of the finished format, see our advertorial examples, or the advertorial definition post for the basics.
How to choose a native ad network
Do not pick on reputation alone. Pick on what you can run well with the team and budget you have.
- Get one advertorial working first. Without a page that tells a story and tracks orders, no network will look good.
- Start with one of the two main recommendation networks, Taboola or Outbrain. Use several angles on that one network before you add another.
- Set up conversion tracking before spending. If the network cannot tell which clicks became orders, you are paying for guesses.
- Start with a budget you can afford to lose, check placement reports early, and block sources that spend without converting.
- Add a second network only when the first has a clear winner. Rerun the winning angle there as a separate test.
- Compare networks on cost per order, not cost per click. Clicks are cheap to buy and cheap to waste. The native advertising cost post explains the cost model.
If you want a shortlist of other options beyond the first two, our Taboola alternatives post compares them in more detail. If you would rather hand the build and the running to a specialist, see our native advertising agency guide.
Frequently asked questions
What are native ad networks?
Native ad networks sell ad placements that match the look and feel of the page they appear on, usually as recommended stories on publisher sites. Advertisers pay the network, and the network pays the publishers. The ads usually lead to an advertorial or product page.
Which native ad network should a DTC brand start with?
Most DTC brands start with Taboola or Outbrain, because both are built for open-web content recommendation and are well suited to advertorials. Pick one, test several angles, and add the other only once you have a clear winner.
Are native ads better than Meta ads?
They are different, not better or worse. Meta shows ads to people in a feed based on audience signals. Native networks show ads to people already reading content. Many brands use native as a second channel so they depend less on Meta alone.
Do I need an advertorial to use a native ad network?
Not strictly, but it usually helps. Readers clicking from an article-style ad tend to expect a story, not a hard sell. An advertorial bridges that gap by explaining the problem and the product before asking for the order.
How many native ad networks should I run at once?
Start with one. Every extra network adds another account, policy set and report. Add a second when your tracking is clean and you have an advertorial that has worked on the first.
The bottom line
The best native ad network is the one you can track, control and learn from. For most DTC brands that means Taboola or Outbrain first, a strong advertorial behind the click, and a second network only after the first one has taught you something. Check each network's current pricing, policies and minimums before you commit, because they change. Keep the test small, compare on cost per order, and let the data decide what comes next.
Keep reading
- what native advertising is and how an advertorial works
- how Taboola ads work and how to run a first campaign
- what Outbrain is and how it works
- Taboola vs Outbrain
- what MGID is and how it works for e-commerce brands
- programmatic native advertising
- native advertising cost
- Taboola alternatives
- native advertising agency guide