Register by Jan 13 to save on passes and connect with marketers from Uber, Bose and more
Content ads will soon be as big a segment as video, display and social advertising. At least that’s what Zemanta’s Todd Sawicki told attendees of the Digiday Publishing Summit. The reason for this upsurge? Content ads are set to be the primary ad format for mobile.
But what is a content ad? Put simply, it’s any ad that uses content as the creative. It includes things like promoted recommendations, sponsored content, and native ads (all examples of content formatted to be consistent with the publisher site). Unlike other types of ads, content ads do not require standard formats, but do require standard components. These components are used to seamlessly incorporate the ads into a variety of different publisher environments.
For these ads to see the growth Sawicki predicts, they need to be both scalable and engaging. Fortunately, supply-side platforms are beginning to support content ads.
Full video of Sawicki’s talk is available below.
Tech Talk with Zemanta: How Content Ads Will Come to Dominant Publishers Advertising Efforts from Digiday on Vimeo.
More from Digiday
OpenAI’s countdown: monetization, ads, and a Google-shaped threat
With fierce competition from Google et al, the clock is ticking for the AI company to launch its ad business.
Crisis, culture and costs: The new reality of the modern CMO
Crisis, culture and cost pressures are reshaping the modern CMO into a revenue-driven strategist uniting marketing, communications and finance.
Digiday+ Research: The marketer’s guide to AI applications, agentic AI, AI search and GEO/AEO in 2026
Digiday’s annual AI report explores how marketers are navigating the opportunities and challenges AI brings as it becomes an indispensable piece in their toolkits.