Q: There’s growing debate around disruptive ad formats. From what you’re hearing, how are publishers feeling about them today?
A: Publishers are under real pressure to balance two competing priorities: they need to protect user experience while sustaining revenue. Disruptive formats – for instance takeovers, autoplay video with sound, or aggressive pop-ups – may deliver short-term spikes, but they are prone to eroding trust and increasing bounce rates.
What we’re seeing at Preciso is that publishers are thinking much more long term. Retention, subscription growth, and loyalty matter more than ever in a world increasingly driven by AI search. So, if an ad format undermines those goals, it’s difficult to justify. That’s why many are reassessing how advertising integrates into the editorial journey, rather than interrupting it.
Q: If audiences are less tolerant of interruption, what options do brands realistically have?
A: Brands still need visibility and performance – that hasn’t changed. What has changed is the expectation around how that visibility is delivered. Increasingly, the answer lies in formats that align with content rather than compete with it.
Native advertising is one of the clearest examples. Instead of pulling a reader away from what they’re consuming, it sits naturally within the page. And if you get it right (so that it’s clearly labelled, contextually relevant, and creatively aligned) then it doesn’t feel like a disruption at all. It just feels like an extension of the browsing experience.
For brands, that often translates into deeper engagement rather than fleeting impressions.
Q: Some critics argue that native can’t deliver the same impact as bold, high-impact display formats. Can it really compete on performance?
A: It depends how you define impact. If impact means grabbing attention for a split second, then yes, disruptive formats can do that. But if impact means sustained attention, time spent, and meaningful interaction, native will inevitably outperform disruptive ads.
Our own research shows that consumers engage with native ads more frequently than display, and that purchase intent lifts are higher. In fact, engagement rates regularly exceed 70%, which is a very different outcome from traditional banner formats where bounce rates can hover around similar figures. So, the conversation is shifting from, “Did the user see it?” to, “Did the user engage with it?” That’s where native advertising proves its value every time.
Q: Trust seems to be central to this. Do native formats genuinely benefit from the trust audiences place in publishers?
A: Yes, trust is fundamental. Readers choose a publication because they value its voice, its authority, and its curation. When advertising mirrors that tone and context – while remaining transparently labelled as such – it benefits from proximity to that trusted environment.
Studies using eye-tracking have shown that native placements attract significantly more visual attention than banner ads. More interestingly, a higher proportion of consumers say they would share a native ad with friends or family compared to display. That tells you something about perceived credibility.
Q: Is there a risk that audiences become ‘blind’ to native ads in the same way they did with banners?
A: It’s a fair question. Any format, if overused or poorly executed, risks fatigue. The difference with native is that its effectiveness relies on relevance and context. If the creative and placement are intelligently optimised, it remains aligned with what the reader is already interested in.
That’s where AI plays an important role. Machine learning helps optimise bidding and placement in real time, ensuring that ads appear in environments where they make sense. It also supports creative variation and testing, so publishers and brands aren’t relying on a single static execution.
In short, native blindness is far less likely when campaigns are dynamic, data-informed and context-aware.
Q: From a publisher’s perspective, how can native drive innovation without compromising editorial integrity?
A: Innovation doesn’t have to mean intrusion. In fact, some of the most innovative monetisation strategies are the least disruptive. Native units can be introduced within long-form content, recommendation widgets, or in-feed placements in ways that feel intuitive.
For publishers, the key is control. They need transparency around which demand partners are bidding, how placements are optimised, and what the user experience looks like. Modern-day solutions are designed to work within those parameters – enhancing monetisation while respecting layout, brand safety, and editorial standards.
When publishers feel in control, they’re far more comfortable experimenting with new formats.
Q: What’s in the pipeline from Preciso?
A: We’re continuing to invest heavily in AI-driven native technology. A major focus for us is expanding the accessibility of our Ultima native advertising platform for publishers, particularly those using platforms like WordPress, so they can integrate high-performing native units quickly and transparently.
We’re also refining our smart bidding and optimisation capabilities to make them even more efficient – not just from a performance standpoint, but from a sustainability perspective too, reducing wasted impressions and unnecessary spend.
Ultimately, our goal is simple: to help publishers and brands move beyond disruptive advertising towards models that are performance-led, audience-centric and future-proof. That intersection is where we believe the industry is heading – and we’re building for that future.
About us
Preciso is a fast-growing adtech company, whose flagship Smart-Bid technology makes it easy for advertisers to launch successful programmatic campaigns easily and at scale.
Our Ultima native advertising solution creates personalised campaign creatives, and automatically embeds them within web pages to combat banner blindness and drive meaningful engagement at scale. It also uses customer journey modelling and AI to optimise the bidding and buying process in real time, ensuring only the most relevant ad placements are secured, boosting relevance and engagement, and minimising ad wastage and associated carbon emissions.
Founded in Italy by Piero Pavone in 2020, Preciso now has teams in seven countries. For more information, visit preciso.net.
