Native ad creative and landing pages

Plan the native ad and its destination as one reader journey. The headline and thumbnail set an expectation the page must fulfil. Before approving either, write down what the reader will learn.

End-to-End Native Ad Journey: From Creative to Destination

Set the promise

Summarise the destination in one sentence. For a hypothetical home-battery comparison article, the promise might be “questions to ask before choosing one”. A guaranteed saving is a different claim and needs evidence the article may not have.

Review the headline with the image. A photograph of a particular model may imply the article covers it; a dramatic scene may turn a routine explanation into an apparent warning. Check the crop in the intended placement, not just the full image.

Check the rules of the distributor and publisher you intend to use. The ACCC can require businesses to back up claims about their products or services; it accepts reports about possible misleading or false claims and uses them to inform education, compliance and enforcement work. It can investigate and may take compliance or enforcement action where a business misleads. It does not resolve individual disputes or provide legal advice.

If a claim needs qualification, ensure it limits that same claim rather than leaving a stronger impression from the headline or image.

Connect the page to the ad

Detailed reader-first landing-page structure appears in its sibling article. From creative to destination, the page should confirm the promise the ad made.

Make the commercial character clear wherever people encounter the promotion and destination. Outbrain’s accepted page types include advertorials with proper disclosure; check the applicable requirements for your format and route.

Native Ad vs. Editorial Content: Key Differences

Choose a destination format that fits

For campaigns using Outbrain, accepted page types include article pages and blog posts, earned media, videos with descriptive text, search engine results pages, home pages, product or landing pages, app download pages, infographics and advertorials. Check the destination format fits your planned route before building creative around it.

PDF pages are not an acceptable Outbrain landing-page format. If the promised answer exists only in a PDF, that destination will not meet Outbrain’s stated compatibility standard; use an accepted page format for that route.

Outbrain’s guidelines also reject content designed to deceive readers into thinking it is legitimate editorial content or fact-based news. A promotion should not disguise its commercial character or present an advertorial with little or no value to the reader as ordinary editorial content.

Check the complete path

Preview the card in its intended placement and follow it on a phone. Check the displayed headline, image crop, page loading, opening answer, navigation and next action. For Outbrain, check current technical guidance; other distributors may set different requirements.

When checks pass, record the approved creative and destination versions so a later page change triggers another review.

Review claims and commercial presentation

Before putting a promise into a native ad, check the destination supports it and the claim can be substantiated. A headline that overstates what the page establishes creates both a mismatch and a claim risk.

Outbrain’s guidelines apply to advertisers and agency partners contracted with the Outbrain Group, and media owners using its technology agree to abide by them. Outbrain says it may reject or block content at its discretion, including after launch, if it considers the user experience compromised.

Outbrain may enforce guideline violations by removing or suspending content from its network, or terminating a contractual agreement.

Publishers and marketers can also block pages or sources they feel do not resonate with their brands. Consider whether the destination and promotion belong together for the intended placement, rather than treating platform acceptance as the only approval criterion.

Key Compliance & Platform Requirements for Native Ads in Australia