BLOG - Native Ads vs. Display Ads: Which Works Best for Your Newsletter?
As a newsletter publisher, you’ve probably wondered whether native ads or display ads deliver the best results for your email marketing campaigns. Both methods are powerful in their own right, but choosing the right one depends entirely on your goals and audience.
Understanding the key differences between native ads vs display ads can make a huge impact on your campaign’s performance. So, let’s cut through the marketing speak to help you make an informed decision.
The Rise of Native Ads – Subtle, Slick, and Powerful
Display ads have dominated digital advertising for nearly three decades, having launched back in 1994. Native advertising, however, is a newer concept, emerging significantly around 2011. Despite their relative youth, native ads have rapidly transformed the advertising landscape, challenging the longstanding dominance of traditional display banners.
According to a 2025 market report, native ad viewability rates are around 60%, notably higher than traditional display ads. They also offer enhanced brand recognition and deeper consumer engagement, resulting in increased market investment. Global spending on native advertising is projected to surpass USD 140 billion in 2025 and is likely to soar to above USD 420 billion by 2033, confirming an undeniable dominance of native formats in advertising, as Business Research Insights reports.
To understand why native ads are increasingly favored over traditional display ads, let’s explore their characteristics and differences further.
What are Native Ads?
Native ads are sponsored placements designed to blend seamlessly into their host content, whether it’s newsletters, blogs, or websites. They match the design, tone, and flow of your content, making them feel like an organic part of your newsletter rather than traditional advertisements.
Why is this important? Publishers face growing audience fatigue with intrusive ads, leading to banner blindness—the tendency to subconsciously ignore obvious advertisements. Native ads bypass this fatigue by presenting themselves subtly, effectively engaging readers without disrupting their experience.jst
What is an Example of a Native Ad?
Native ads appear naturally alongside regular newsletter content. Imagine you’re reading a travel newsletter highlighting top European destinations, and amidst the editorial content, you see an article titled, “5 Must-Visit Hidden Gems in Italy,” subtly sponsored by a travel agency. It fits in perfectly, feels organic, and draws genuine interest.
At Passendo, we empower publishers to create impactful native ads effortlessly. Our Native Ad Builder lets you design compelling, customized native placements that resonate authentically with your audience. Check out our easy-to-use design studio here Native Layout Design Studio.
What are Display Ads?
Display ads, on the other hand, are graphical advertisements prominently positioned within emails, websites, or apps. These ads use visuals, animations, and clear CTAs to capture reader attention and deliver a brand’s message quickly.
Display ads are visually bold and direct. Their style is purpose-built to spotlight the advertiser’s brand, product, or offer, making them ideal for retargeting campaigns or reinforcing visibility through repeated impressions. And unlike native ads, display gives users a clear destination: when you click, you know exactly where you’re headed.
What Does a Display Ad Look Like?
Scrolling through your newsletter, suddenly: BAM – a colorful, animated banner shouts ‘50% off all sneakers!’ It’s loud, direct, and impossible to miss.
Display ads in newsletters use eye-catching visuals, banners, or GIFs to capture attention instantly. Imagine an animated banner offering readers an exclusive 30% discount on fashion items, engaging them immediately and prompting direct action.
Display ads look like bold, irresistible pictures (or videos) of things the audience loves to consume.
Native Ads vs Banner (Display) Ads: Key Differences
Quick clarification before we go further: banner ads are simply the most common type of display ads. They’re those rectangular, visually bold ads you see at the top, bottom, or sides of a page. To keep things clear, we’ll refer specifically to banner ads as we discuss key differences against native ads below.
Understanding the distinctions between native ads vs banner ads is crucial:
- Appearance: Native ads blend naturally with content, whereas banner ads intentionally stand out visually.
- Audience Experience: Native ads create a smoother user experience and minimize disruption, while banner ads are attention-grabbing but more intrusive.
- Click-through Rates (CTR): Native ads typically outperform banner ads with significantly higher CTRs due to their organic placement.
- Device Performance: Native ads excel on mobile platforms, benefiting from users’ scrolling behaviors, whereas display ads generally perform better on desktops.
- Traffic Quality: Native ads attract users genuinely interested in your content, resulting in higher engagement and better conversion potential.
Aspect | Native Ads | Banner Ads |
Appearance | Blends naturally with content | Stands out visually |
User Experience | Smooth and non-intrusive | Visually disruptive |
Click-through Rate | Higher CTR due to organic integration | Lower CTR due to banner blindness |
Device Performance | Better on mobile devices | Better on desktops |
Traffic Quality | Higher quality and engagement | Lower engagement, broader reach |
Display vs Native Ads: Cost and Performance
Cost and ROI are vital considerations when comparing display ads vs native advertising:
- Cost-Per-Click (CPC): Native ads generally have higher CPC rates due to their targeted nature and better quality of traffic. However, their ROI tends to be stronger.
- Effectiveness: Native ads typically achieve better brand affinity and user engagement. A recent study showed that native ads registered an 18% lift in purchase intent compared to banner ads.
- Audience Preference: Millennials and Gen Z readers increasingly prefer native ads due to their less intrusive nature. In fact, a study from 2023 shows 80% of millennials find native ads to provide a favorable user experience.
Metric | Native Ads | Display Ads |
Cost-Per-Click (CPC) | Higher due to the targeted audience | Lower but less targeted |
Effectiveness | Higher brand affinity, purchase intent | Broader reach, lower conversion rates |
Audience Preference | Preferred by millennials and Gen Z | General audience acceptance |
Related Ad Formats Worth Understanding
Native vs. display is a common comparison, but native ads don’t exist in a vacuum. To fully understand their role and strategic value, it helps to look at two other major players in the digital advertising space: search ads and programmatic advertising.
While they serve different functions, both have shaped how ads are delivered, optimized, and perceived. Below, we briefly break down how native ads differ from each — not to conflate them, but to give you a broader perspective on how native fits into the overall landscape.
What is the Difference Between Native Ads and Search Ads?
When discussing digital ad formats, there’s another major player in the mix: search ads.
While native and display ads often compete for space within publisher environments, search ads represent a different strategic approach. They tap into active intent, reaching users who are already looking for something specific. Understanding how native ads differ from search ads helps marketers position native in the broader performance landscape and clarify when and why to use each format.
Here’s how they stack up:
Aspect | Native Ads | Search Ads |
|---|---|---|
Placement | Integrated within content naturally | Prominent placement in search results |
Style | Matches editorial content visually/textually | Purely text-based, keyword-driven |
Intent | Subtle, enhances user experience | Direct, intent-driven, immediate action |
What is the Difference Between Native and Programmatic Ads?
Whereas search ads represent a format, programmatic advertising describes a method, the automated way ads are bought and sold.
Native ads refer to the format and placement, designed to blend into their environment.
Programmatic, on the other hand, is about how ads are distributed: using algorithms to target the right user, in the right place, at the right time.
In fact, many native ads today are delivered programmatically, combining contextual relevance with scalable targeting. So, they are not different types of ads, but the terms refer to different aspects of ads in circulation.
You can buy and sell native ads programmatically, including through platforms like Passendo.
Aspect | Native Ads | Programmatic Ads |
|---|---|---|
Format | Integrated smoothly within content | Automated buying and placement |
Targeting | Manually selected or contextually placed | Algorithm-driven targeting for audience reach |
User Experience | Non-intrusive, contextual integration | Varied experience based on placement |
Now that we’ve covered how native compares to other formats, let’s look at when to choose native over display and why.
When to Use Native Ads
You’ve seen how the formats stack up, overlapping, often misunderstood, each with its role. Now it’s time to get specific: when native truly delivers, and when you’re better off choosing something else.
Native advertising is ideal when your goal is to:
- Attract highly-engaged, niche audiences.
- Boost brand awareness subtly without interrupting reader experience.
- Generate high-quality leads through valuable, organic content.
- Increase content-sharing and enhance your newsletter’s credibility.
If you’re looking to build deeper trust and meaningful reader relationships, native advertising is your best choice.
When to Use Display Ads
Not every moment calls for subtlety. Sometimes you need reach, speed, and scale and that’s where display ads pull their weight.
Display ads are particularly effective for:
- Running retargeting campaigns to recapture interested readers.
- Promoting visually appealing products, events, or special offers.
- Quickly generating broad awareness or brand recall.
- Reaching diverse market segments rapidly and efficiently.
Display Ads vs Native Ads: The Ideal Mix
Ultimately, the best strategy often involves a strategic combination of native and display ads.
At Passendo, we recommend publishers start with engaging native ads to attract and nurture quality leads. Then, supplementing these efforts with display ads for retargeting campaigns or reinforcing promotional messaging can maximize your overall advertising effectiveness.
With Passendo, you can run both native and display formats in the same ad unit, and control it all from a single platform, making it easier to test, optimize, and scale without added complexity.
By clearly understanding the differences between native vs display ads, and leveraging each strategically, you can optimize your newsletter’s performance and reader experience.
Ready to enhance your ad strategy? Let’s discuss how Passendo can help you build the perfect advertising mix.
FAQ
How do native ads compare to display ads for user engagement in the United States?
In the United States, native ads consistently outperform display ads on engagement: Nielsen and Sharethrough found native ads drive 53% higher attention and 18% higher purchase intent than standard display formats
Because native ads match the surrounding content and context, users interact with them more intentionally, while display ads are more likely to be ignored or blocked.
Display ads vs native ads: which formats yield better CPM rates?
Native ads typically command higher CPMs than display ads because they generate stronger attention and engagement, which buyers are willing to pay for.
In the U.S., industry benchmarks (e.g. Sharethrough, IAB) regularly show native CPMs 30–100% higher than standard display, especially in premium, context-rich environments like newsletters and editorial content.