By Mark Hoelzel From Business Insider

Native is one of the hottest topics in digital media, and advertisers and publishers are taking notice.

By creating advertisements that are in the same format as the content audiences are there to consume, marketers hope to provide a much less disruptive advertising experience. Native ads have also proven effective, drawing higher click rates than traditional banner ads, particularly on mobile devices.

New and exclusive data from BI Intelligence finds that spending on native ads will reach $7.9 billion this year and grow to $21 billion in 2018, rising from just $4.7 billion in 2013. We are the only research service that has provided a detailed breakdown of spend projections and growth rates for each of the three main native ad types — social-native, native-style display ads, and sponsored content.

Here are some of the key takeaways:

Social native ads will account for the biggest share of native ad revenue during this time period, but native-style display ads will grow the fastest.
Social-native, including Facebook News Feed ads and promoted tweets on Twitter, will draw a majority of native ad revenue between 2013 and 2018.
Native display ads, like the splashy native ads on Yahoo’s news pages and apps, will see the fastest ramp-up.
Sponsored content, like some of the paid stories and sections on BuzzFeed and The New York Times (and Business Insider), has also attracted considerable attention.
Native ads perform better than traditional display. This is particularly true on mobile. Desktop native click-through rates (CTRs) averaged a respectable 0.15%, while native-mobile ads had CTRs over 1%, according to recent data from Polar Media Group and Celtra, respectively.
Consumers hold a generally positive attitude toward native advertising, according to survey data, but advertisers and publishers must ensure that ads are relevant and are purchased by trustworthy brands to avoid the risk of any mainstream backlash.
The report is full of charts and data that can easily be downloaded and put to use.

In full, the report:

Provides charts and datasets on native ad spend trends and audience perceptions
Forecast spending on top native ad formats, including social, display, and sponsorships
Clearly defines the most important native ad formats and provides example images
Analyzes how native ads preform compared to their traditional counterparts
Looks at how audiences perceive native ads, and how advertisers and publishers can keep their attitudes positive
Demystifies the native-advertising landscape, highlights the most popular types of native ads and sponsored content
To access the full report from BI Intelligence, sign up for a 14-day trial here: https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/welcome?utm_source=House&utm_medium=Edit&utm_term=DM-Native-2014-11-6&utm_content=link&utm_campaign=BIIMobile-ref-techtout-utm_source-feedburner-utm_medium-feed-utm_campaign-Feed%3A+businessinsider+%28Business+Insider%29-ref-techtout-utm_source-feedburner-utm_medium-feed-utm_campaign-Feed%3A+businessinsider+%28Business+Insider%29 Members also gain access to new in-depth reports, hundreds of charts and datasets, as well as daily newsletters on the digital industry.

IMAGE: Native Advertising Revenue (US) BI Intelligence The native ad boom, in one chart.

For more on this story go to: http://www.businessinsider.com/spending-on-native-ads-will-soar-as-publishers-and-advertisers-take-notice-2014-11#ixzz3ag8qWwkH

Related story:

This infographic explains what native advertising is

By Todd Wasserman From Mashable
Native advertising is hot right now, even if nobody seems to know exactly what it is. Solve Media, a digital advertising firm, has attempted to solve that problem with this infographic, which takes a stab at a standard definition: “Native advertising refers to a specific mode of monetization that aims to augment user experience by providing value through relevant content delivered in-stream.”
Actually, that’s pretty good. As the rest of the graphic shows, native advertising is clearly where the money is going in the industry. At the very least, when ad execs are throwing the term around at Christmas parties, they can be on the same page.
Thumbnail image courtesy of Flickr, Owenwbrown

For more on this story go to: http://mashable.com/2012/12/13/infographic-native-advertising/