The native ad-tech ecosystem is starting to look like
banner-based display, with ad servers, ad networks and real
time bidding is on its way. Add in the systems needed to
produce the content and (also like display) you end up with a mess
of "solutions" all working to solve similar problems with
frustrating complexity.
Trying to resolve this issue, NewsCred today announced a new
product that will bring the processes involved in the creation of
branded content, and its amplification via native advertising
networks, under one roof.
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"On both sides of the spectrum -- both for publishers that offer
native solutions and brands that are looking for distribution --
they finally have a tool to manage their end to end native
advertising needs," said NewsCred CEO Shafqat Islam in an interview
with Ad Age.
The tool, which NewsCred calls the "Content Marketing Cloud,"
will let advertisers plan and publish content within it and then
promote and track it via integrations with third party native ad
networks such as Taboola and Outbrain. It will also be able to
track campaign conversion performance and pull in licensed content
from the company's pre-existing network of content sourced from
over 4,000 publishers.
Other tech players in the space include Nativo, which sells a native ad server and ad
network, and Sharethrough, which lets advertisers run
native campaigns across publishers sites and has indicated plans to
offer its ads through real time bidding solutions as well.
NewsCred, Mr. Islam said, focused all its resources over the
past six months on building this product. "It's millions of dollars
of investment," he said.
Watching yet another native ad-tech product hit the market hints
to a growing optimism about the money middlemen stand to make
sitting between native ad buyers and sellers. While NewsCred will
not take a cut from media spend on its platform, it does stand to
gain from the fees it will charge for seats on its platform and
access to licensed content on its network.
"Sponsored content has made a market for native advertising,"
said Mr. Islam, explaining that without the eyeballs native
advertising can deliver, the money invested in sponsored content
may go to waste. And without content, native advertising wouldn't
be much of anything at all.
NewsCred, has 110 employees and claims Proctor & Gamble,
Visa, Bank of America, The
Hearst Corporation and Time Inc. as clients. The company has raised
$20 million to date, with $15 million coming in a round in March
led by the Mayfield Fund.