Native ads to dominate display ad spending by 2020

Across Europe, native ad spend will grow 2.6% over the next five years rising from €5.2bn in 2015 to €13.2bn in 2020. By 2020, native ad spend will account for more than half (52%) of the forecast total display ad spend, found the study from Yahoo and Enders.

The reason for the domination of native ads is, says the report, down to shifting user behavior with content discovery and consumption now being done on smartphones and tablets. Therefore, the biggest growth in native ad spending will be on mobile with almost six times the €1.5 billion spent in 2015 forecast by 2020.

The report also suggests that, while not entirely immune, native ads are less susceptible to ad blocking software and, as a format, is a more relevant experience for users and a more creative and measurable format

"Native advertising looks like a rare win-win for the industry: more effective for advertisers, more valuable for publishers and more acceptable for users," said Joseph Evans, digital media analyst at Enders Analysis. "Its suitability for mobile, social and video contexts means that growth in native will contribute the large bulk of increased digital display spend."

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Tags: advertising, display ads, Europe, mobile, native ads, research