Native Advertising Statistics 2026: 32 Verified Data Points on Spend, Share, and Engagement

By Christoph Olivier, Founder, CO Consulting · Fractional CMO who has managed millions in ad spend and built 1M+ followers across social · Updated 27 August 2026

Based on 32 verified statistics from primary filings, the IAB/PwC industry report, EMARKETER forecasts, and named market-research firms. Every figure carries its publisher, year, and geography. Where the most recent native-specific dollar figures are only available for prior years, that is stated plainly rather than estimated.

Executive summary

US social media ad revenue reached $117.7 billion in 2025 and overtook search ($114.2 billion) for the first time, per the IAB/PwC Internet Advertising Revenue Report (April 2026). Because in-feed native concentrates in social, native is now the format riding the largest and second-fastest-growing channel in US digital advertising. EMARKETER projects US native display ad spending will hit $147.98 billion in 2026.

Key findings

Native’s momentum in 2026 rests on four verified pillars: social’s rise to the top US ad format, EMARKETER’s $147.98 billion native forecast, the Outbrain-Teads merger reshaping open-web native, and a decade-old effectiveness edge that no newer at-scale study has overturned. The numbers below are current as of the most recent published release for each source.

• US social ad revenue was $117.7 billion in 2025, up 32.6% year over year and now the single largest format, ahead of search at $114.2 billion (IAB/PwC, April 2026).
• US internet ad revenue hit $294.6 billion in full-year 2025, up 13.9% year over year without any Olympics, World Cup, or election tailwind (IAB/PwC, April 2026).
• US native display ad spending is forecast to reach $147.98 billion in 2026, up 13.1% (EMARKETER forecast, December 2025).
• The global native advertising market was valued at $105.9 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach $346.9 billion by 2033, a 13.9% CAGR (Grand View Research, 2025).
• Outbrain completed its acquisition of Teads on 3 February 2025, forming a combined open-web native platform reaching roughly 2 billion monthly consumers (Outbrain/Teads, February 2025).
• Taboola posted $1.9 billion in full-year 2025 revenue, up 8.3%, reaching 600 million+ daily active users (Taboola FY2025 results, February 2026).
• Native’s dominance is structurally social: native was 95.6% of US social display spend but only 30.8% of non-social display in 2019, the most recent year EMARKETER split it publicly (EMARKETER, April 2019).
• Consumers looked at native ads 53% more frequently than banner ads and were more likely to share them (Sharethrough/IPG Media Lab, 2015).

Definitions: why the numbers do not always line up

No single 2026 native figure is authoritative because each publisher scopes “native” differently. EMARKETER’s native display includes in-feed social native, which is why its $147.98 billion 2026 forecast exceeds IAB’s $81.6 billion display total. IAB/PwC reports display, social, search, and video as overlapping formats that sum above 100%. Grand View sizes a global market on a broader definition again. Read every figure with its scope attached.

• Social-inclusive native (EMARKETER native display): counts in-feed units on social platforms, the largest slice.
• Open-web / non-social native: content-recommendation and in-article units served by Taboola and Outbrain-Teads off social platforms.
• IAB “display”: a format bucket that partly overlaps social and video, not a native-only figure.

Market size and spend forecasts

US native display ad spending is forecast at $147.98 billion in 2026, up 13.1% year over year, per EMARKETER’s December 2025 forecast. Globally, Grand View Research valued the native advertising market at $105.9 billion in 2024, projecting $346.9 billion by 2033 at a 13.9% CAGR. The two figures are not comparable: one is US in-feed-inclusive annual spend, the other a differently scoped global market-sizing model.

Native’s share of display and the shift to social

Native was 95.6% of US social display spend but only 30.8% of non-social display in 2019, per EMARKETER (April 2019), the most recent year the split was published openly. That 64.8-point gap is the core structural fact: native is the default on social platforms and a minority format on the open web. Since social ad revenue is now the largest US format at $117.7 billion (2025), native’s center of gravity has moved decisively toward in-feed social.

Engagement, CTR, and effectiveness vs display

Consumers looked at native ads 53% more frequently than banner ads, and 32% said they would share a native ad versus 19% for display, per the Sharethrough/IPG Media Lab study (2015). These remain the most-cited at-scale effectiveness figures because no comparably sized public study has superseded them. Treat them as historical and directional: the study is a decade old and was co-run by a native vendor.

Platforms: the open-web native market consolidates

The open-web native market is now effectively two players after Outbrain completed its acquisition of Teads on 3 February 2025, a roughly $1 billion cash-and-equity deal, with the combined company operating under the Teads brand. Taboola remains the other principal, posting $1.9 billion in 2025 revenue. Together they set pricing and inventory for content-recommendation and in-article native off the social platforms.

Broader digital ad context, full-year 2025

US internet ad revenue reached $294.6 billion in 2025, up 13.9% year over year, per IAB/PwC (April 2026). Social ($117.7B) edged past search ($114.2B) to become the largest format, while digital video grew fastest among large formats at 25.4%. Because these buckets overlap, they cannot be summed to isolate native, but they show native’s host channels expanding faster than banner-heavy display.

Format shares overlap (video and social in particular) and sum above 100%; they cannot be added to derive a native-only total.

Original synthesis

The three analyses below apply only arithmetic to the cited figures, with each formula stated. No new numbers are invented; each input is a published, attributed statistic.

1. Social overtakes search, and native rides the winner

Social ad revenue ($117.7B) exceeded search ($114.2B) by $3.5 billion in 2025, the first time social led (IAB/PwC, April 2026). Because in-feed native is concentrated in social (95.6% of social display was native in 2019, EMARKETER), the format now sits on the largest US ad channel. Formula: $117.7B social minus $114.2B search equals a $3.5B lead. Limitation: IAB does not isolate native inside social.

2. The social-versus-open-web native gap

Native’s share of social display (95.6%) minus its share of non-social display (30.8%) is a 64.8 percentage-point gap, both 2019 EMARKETER figures. The gap explains why EMARKETER’s social-inclusive native forecast ($147.98B for 2026) dwarfs the open-web platforms’ combined revenue (Taboola $1.9B plus Outbrain-Teads ~$1.7B). Formula: 95.6% minus 30.8%. Limitation: 2019 split; structural pattern persists.

3. Open-web native is now a two-firm market

After the Outbrain-Teads merger closed on 3 February 2025, open-web native concentrated into two principals: Taboola ($1.9B FY2025) and Outbrain-Teads (~$1.7B combined FY2024 spend). Formula: count of independent at-scale content-recommendation platforms fell from three (Taboola, Outbrain, Teads) to two. Limitation: revenue and spend bases are disclosed on different definitions and are not directly comparable.

Most quotable statistics

• “US social ad revenue reached $117.7 billion in 2025 and overtook search for the first time” (IAB/PwC, April 2026).
• “US internet ad revenue hit $294.6 billion in 2025, up 13.9% with no Olympics, World Cup, or election” (IAB/PwC, April 2026).
• “US native display ad spending is forecast to reach $147.98 billion in 2026, up 13.1%” (EMARKETER, December 2025).
• “Native was 95.6% of social display but only 30.8% of non-social display in 2019” (EMARKETER, April 2019).
• “Consumers looked at native ads 53% more than display, and 32% would share one versus 19% for display” (Sharethrough/IPG Media Lab, 2015).
• “Taboola posted $1.9 billion in 2025 revenue and reaches 600 million+ daily active users” (Taboola FY2025 results, February 2026).

Methodology

Every figure meets one inclusion rule: a named publisher, a year, and a real URL. Primary and audited disclosures came first (IAB/PwC, Taboola results, Outbrain/Teads announcements), then established analyst forecasts (EMARKETER), then a named market-sizing firm (Grand View Research), then a co-run vendor/academic study (Sharethrough/IPG Media Lab).

• Inclusion: a figure was quoted only if attributable to a named source with a year and URL.
• Exclusion: figures behind subscription paywalls without a public secondary citation were dropped, not estimated. This is why native-specific dollar splits for 2020 to 2025 are not quoted at the social/non-social level; EMARKETER’s most recent public split is 2019.
• Conflict handling: where “native” scopes differ, social-inclusive and open-web figures are shown separately.
• Derived estimates: the three synthesis items use only arithmetic on cited figures, with formulas stated.
• Last updated: 27 August 2026.

Source quality

Sources are tiered by reliability. Tier 1 is primary, official, or audited; Tier 2 is established analyst and market research; Tier 3 is co-run vendor research retained only where no better source exists.

• Tier 1: IAB/PwC Internet Advertising Revenue Report (Full-Year 2025); Taboola FY2025 financial results; Outbrain/Teads merger completion announcement (Feb 2025).
• Tier 2: EMARKETER native display forecast (December 2025); Grand View Research native advertising market report (2025).
• Tier 3: Sharethrough/IPG Media Lab effectiveness study (2015), labeled historical and vendor co-run; MediaPost relaying EMARKETER’s 2017 native projection.

Data limitations

Five caveats govern any use of these figures. Read them before quoting a single native total as authoritative.

1. “Native” is scoped differently by each source; social-inclusive, open-web, and global market-sizing figures are not interchangeable.
2. The most recent public social-vs-non-social native split is 2019 (EMARKETER); newer segment-level splits sit behind subscription access.
3. The Sharethrough/IPG effectiveness study dates to 2015 and is vendor co-run, so lift and attention figures are historical and directional.
4. Taboola (daily active users) and Outbrain-Teads (monthly consumers) report reach on different denominators and are not comparable.
5. IAB format shares overlap and sum above 100%, so they cannot be added to isolate native.

FAQ

What is the largest US digital ad format in 2025?

Social media, at $117.7 billion in 2025, overtook search ($114.2 billion) to become the largest US internet ad format for the first time, up 32.6% year over year, per IAB/PwC (April 2026).

How big is the US native advertising market in 2026?

US native display ad spending is forecast to reach $147.98 billion in 2026, up 13.1% year over year, per EMARKETER’s December 2025 forecast. This social-inclusive figure counts in-feed native on social platforms.

How large is the global native advertising market?

The global native advertising market was valued at $105.9 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach $346.9 billion by 2033, a 13.9% CAGR from 2025 to 2033, per Grand View Research (2025).

How big is the overall US digital ad market?

US internet ad revenue was $294.6 billion in full-year 2025, up 13.9% year over year, per IAB/PwC (April 2026), a record reached without Olympics, World Cup, or election spending.

Is native mostly a social phenomenon?

Yes. Native was 95.6% of US social display spend but only 30.8% of non-social display in 2019, per EMARKETER (April 2019), a 64.8-point gap. With social now the largest US ad format, native’s center of gravity is in-feed social.

Do native ads get more attention than display ads?

Consumers looked at native ads 53% more frequently than display ads in the Sharethrough/IPG Media Lab study (2015). This remains the most-cited at-scale figure, though it is a decade old and vendor co-run.

Are consumers more likely to share native ads?

32% of respondents said they would share a native ad, versus 19% for display, and native ads showed an 18% higher lift in purchase intent than banner ads, per Sharethrough/IPG Media Lab (2015).

What happened to Outbrain and Teads?

Outbrain completed its acquisition of Teads on 3 February 2025, a roughly $1 billion deal, and the combined company now operates under the Teads brand, reaching about 2 billion monthly consumers across 50+ markets with 10,000+ publishers.

How big is Taboola?

Taboola reported $1.9 billion in full-year 2025 revenue, up 8.3%, and reaches over 600 million daily active users across publishers worldwide, per its FY2025 results (February 2026).

Which digital format grew fastest in 2025?

Among large formats, digital video grew fastest at 25.4% to $78.0 billion in 2025, followed closely by social at 32.6% growth to $117.7 billion, per IAB/PwC (April 2026).

About this research

Compiled by CO Consulting using primary filings, the IAB/PwC industry report, EMARKETER and Grand View Research forecasts, and a co-run effectiveness study, each attributed with its year. If your team needs a native-advertising benchmarking model tailored to your channel mix, you can book a consultation. For adjacent budgets, see our paid advertising services.

Cite this research: CO Consulting. “Native Advertising Statistics 2026: 32 Verified Data Points on Spend, Share, and Engagement.” christopholivierconsulting.com, 2026. https://christopholivierconsulting.com/native-advertising-statistics/

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About the author

Christoph Olivier is the founder of CO Consulting and a fractional CMO who has managed millions in ad spend and built 1M+ followers across social. He advises 7- and 8-figure businesses in tax, M&A, consulting, real estate investing, capital raising, and financial services, pairing a practitioner’s command of every major marketing channel with the original marketing-data reports he publishes on CO Consulting. Follow on YouTube, Instagram, and LinkedIn.