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Background

Outbrain, which touts itself as a content marketing & discovery company, is one of the biggest (if not the biggest) native advertising companies. Outbrain, just like its rival Taboola was originally founded in Israel (now based in New York) in 2006, has seen double digit growth since last few years. This growth is one of the key factors fueling the recent growth in native advertising in general. The company to date has approximately raised $200 million from various private equity sources according to crunchbase.

Outbrain currently has a staff of around 700 employees and has acquired 7 ad technology companies over the years with most notable acquisition being purchase of German native advertising platform Ligatus in 2019. There were talks of a merger between Outbrain and Taboola, the two native advertising giants, in late 2017, however, the merger has not materialized as of yet.

In terms of growth, Outbrain has been seeing massive growth in recent years but one could argue that the growth has reached some level of stagnation in the last year or so. Please take a look at the recent stats for outbrain as measured by us and several third party resources.

Outbrain Traffic Analytics

Presented below are some important statistics from Outbrain native advertising widgets. As you can see from the monthly volume charts, the network offers a huge amount of traffic from tens of thousands of quality websites spread across multiple countries.

The global reach pie chart clearly shows that the traffic is truly global with maximum amount of traffic from United States as one would expect. However, an advertiser can expect pretty decent traffic volume from most countries in South America, Europe and Asia. They are a truly global company in terms of their reach.

The doughnut chart shows the traffic distribution between desktop and mobile devices and as expected three quarter of traffic is generated via mobile devices. This is a trend with most major native ad networks as mobile devices have clearly taken over desktop based PCs.

Outbrain Advertisers and Publishers

All the major global news & media companies run either Outbrain or Taboola widgets or both. This is where majority of the traffic is coming from. Therefore as an advertiser you are able to to target the audience by their interest depending on which section of the media/news site the visitor is viewing. The audience interest segmentation offered by outbrain is as follows:

  • Autos
  • Health
  • Home and Lifestyle
  • News
  • Recreation
  • Sports
  • Technology and Internet
  • Travel
  • Business and Finance
  • Electronics
  • Entertainment

In addition, you can target by geo, device and specific publishers as well.

Considering the nature of the publishers, advertisers focused on content marketing usually thrive on Outbrain. In addition, you see advertisers promoting gaming, health and beauty products, financial products, physical products and mobile apps on Outbrain. For the best ROI, however, the pre-sale landing page needs to be rich in content.

Here are the top advertisers and publishers for Outbrain:

Top Outbrain Publishers

Publisher Name Category Traffic
cnn.com News & Media 7.1%
msn.com News & Media 4.9%
bbc.com News & Media 3.7%
elpais.com News & Media 1.2%
hochi.news Sports 1.1%
as.com Sports 1%
sky.com News & Media 1%
krone.at News & Media 1%

Top Outbrain Advertisers

Advertiser Name Category Traffic
editorchoice.com News & Media 2.1%
edmunds.com Vehicles 2%
healthgrades.com Health 21%
plarium.com Gaming 1.1%
healthierpatriot.com Health 0.9%
directexpose.com News & Media 0.95%

Outbrain CPC Bids & Technical Specifications

The minimum cpc bids on Outbrain is at $0.03 However, you will not be able to get much traffic at these rates especially from tier 1 and tier 2 countries. Expect the bids to be in $0.1 to $0.5 per click depending on your target.

Here are detailed important specifications:

Recommended Image Size 1200x800 pixels
Title Length 100 characters
Recommended Min CPC Desktop $0.05
Recommended Min CPC Mobile $0.03
Minimum Budget $100
Location Targeting: Country, Region, State, DMA, Postal Codes (U.S. & Germany)
Device Targeting Desktop, Tablet, Smartphone
Maximum Ads Approved 40-50 ads per account per day (No more than 10-15 ads per URL)
Annotations (Circles or Arrows Images) Allowed

Frequently Asked Questions About Outbrain (FAQ)

What is Outbrain?

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Outbrain is a leading native advertising company that specializes in providing content discovery and recommendation solutions to publishers and advertisers. Founded in 2006, Outbrain helps publishers monetize their content and enables advertisers to reach targeted audiences through native advertising placements on various digital platforms.

How does Outbrain's native advertising work?

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Outbrain's native advertising works by delivering personalized content recommendations to users based on their interests and online behavior. Through sophisticated algorithms and machine learning techniques, Outbrain analyzes user data to suggest relevant articles, videos, and other content from its network of publishers and advertisers. These recommendations are seamlessly integrated into the user experience, appearing as sponsored links or widgets on websites and mobile apps.

What sets Outbrain apart from other advertising platforms?

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One key differentiator of Outbrain is its focus on native advertising, which blends in with the surrounding content and provides a non-disruptive user experience. Unlike traditional display ads that can be intrusive and ignored by users, native ads recommended by Outbrain are more likely to be noticed and engaged with, leading to higher click-through rates and better ROI for advertisers.

How does Outbrain ensure the quality of content recommended to users?

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Outbrain employs a rigorous content moderation process to maintain the quality and relevance of the content recommended to users. Before being displayed as recommendations, all content undergoes thorough screening to ensure compliance with Outbrain's content guidelines and industry standards. Additionally, Outbrain continuously monitors user feedback and engagement metrics to optimize content recommendations and filter out low-quality or irrelevant content.

Can advertisers target specific audiences with Outbrain's native advertising platform?

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Yes, advertisers can target specific audiences with precision using Outbrain's advanced targeting capabilities. By leveraging data insights and targeting parameters such as demographics, interests, browsing history, and device types, advertisers can tailor their campaigns to reach the most relevant audience segments. This targeting flexibility allows advertisers to maximize the effectiveness of their native advertising campaigns and achieve their marketing objectives more efficiently.

What types of businesses can benefit from using Outbrain's native advertising services?

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Outbrain's native advertising services are suitable for a wide range of businesses across various industries, including e-commerce, media and publishing, technology, finance, travel, and more. Whether you're a small business looking to increase brand awareness or a large corporation aiming to drive conversions, Outbrain's platform offers scalable solutions tailored to meet your specific advertising goals.

How does Outbrain measure the success of native advertising campaigns?

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Outbrain provides advertisers with comprehensive analytics and reporting tools to track the performance of their native advertising campaigns in real-time. Key performance indicators (KPIs) such as click-through rates (CTR), conversion rates, engagement metrics, and return on investment (ROI) are monitored and analyzed to assess campaign effectiveness and optimize performance. By leveraging these insights, advertisers can refine their targeting strategies, optimize ad creatives, and allocate budgets more effectively to achieve desired outcomes.

Is Outbrain's native advertising platform compliant with privacy regulations?

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Yes, Outbrain is committed to maintaining the highest standards of data privacy and compliance with applicable regulations, including GDPR, CCPA, and others. The company employs robust data protection measures and anonymization techniques to safeguard user privacy and ensure transparent data practices throughout the advertising process. Additionally, Outbrain provides users with clear opt-out options and respects their preferences regarding data collection and personalized advertising.

How does Outbrain support publishers in monetizing their content?

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Outbrain partners with publishers to help them monetize their content through native advertising placements. By integrating Outbrain's content recommendation widgets into their websites and mobile apps, publishers can generate additional revenue streams while enhancing user engagement and retention. Outbrain's platform offers publishers flexible monetization options, including revenue-sharing models and programmatic advertising solutions, to maximize their earning potential without compromising the user experience.

What future innovations can we expect from Outbrain in the native advertising space?

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As a pioneer in native advertising technology, Outbrain continues to innovate and evolve its platform to meet the changing needs of advertisers and publishers. In the future, we can expect to see advancements in areas such as AI-driven personalization, dynamic content optimization, cross-channel integration, and enhanced measurement capabilities. By staying at the forefront of technology and industry trends, Outbrain remains dedicated to empowering brands and publishers with cutting-edge solutions for effective content discovery and promotion.

Outbrain Links

Outbrain Login: Outbrain Login Page

Outbrain Guidelines: Outbrain Advertiser Guidelines

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