Native Ad Formats
Premium native formats that have been intentionally and beautifully designed to seamlessly integrate into The New York Times experience, while still delivering optimal ad performance and engagement.
Project Brief
The Flex Suite is The New York Times's proprietary suite of ad formats, exclusive to The Times. As the advertising market evolves and the clients' needs change, new native ad products were needed to ensure we were not leaving holes in our and tested to ensure
Solution
Collaboration with the ad product marketing teams and Heads of Industry would help identify what kinds of formats were needed to fill the portfolio. These native ads had a 1.3x more effective CTR in 2021 campaigns when coupled with 1P targeting versus standard IAB units with targeting.
View Prototype
Crossword Flex XL
Designed to encourage engagement, this format unveils a mystery image as the player solves each clue.
Nested Autoplay Video
When the user engages with the format, they can opt to pause the video, make it full screen, or turn on the audio. In H2 of 2024, this format had an average CTR that was triple that of a standard IAB ad and outperformed IAB ads in viewability by 64.83%.
Real Estate Listings
This unit was designed to fill the gap left by The Times' decision to discontinue its Real Estate section. It offers realtors a space to showcase their listings, providing all the relevant information for potential buyers. In H2 of 2024, this format had an average CTR that outperformed a standard ad by 745.45%.