Data from the Outbrain and Savanta survey confirms a global shift in online information consumption habits. Social networks are declining compared to digital editorial contexts. Native advertising offers a powerful alternative experience here.
Outbrain, one of the main recommendation platforms of the open web, presents data from a global study conducted with the independent institute Savanta on the online information consumption habits of users, between social networks and editorial showcases. For the first time in its 18-year history, Facebook recently reported a decline in its daily active users, with a drop of one million DAUs in Q4 2021, compared to the previous quarter.
This aligns with a trend that has been observed for some time within Outbrain, according to which people are moving away from casual browsing towards a more intentional and purposeful internet experience. And the global study* ‘Power of Native Research. Online survey’ by Outbrain, conducted in collaboration with the third-party provider Savanta during the period December 2, 2021 – January 4, 2022, and across 9 countries (Australia, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Spain, UK, and United States), is further confirmation of this trend today.
Several noteworthy data points reveal the changing behaviors of the audience. Some key findings from the Outbrain-Savanta study are as follows:
21% of global consumers plan to spend less time on social media in the next 6 months.
Of these, 39% are turning completely offline. About 33% work or study, and 36% visit websites with editorial content – such as national and local news sites, and lifestyle sites.
Users place more trust in editorial-style sites than in social networks.
75% of consumers trust the content and recommendations seen on an editorial environment (on average from news, current affairs, and lifestyle sites, special interest or leisure sites) versus 54% who trust the content and recommendations on user-generated content from social media.
Furthermore, household decision-makers are significantly more likely to trust the content and recommendations they see in editorial environments compared to non-decision-makers.
Advertisements are more trusted in editorial web environments than in social media.
User trust also extends to advertising. 68% of consumers trust ads seen in editorial environments** versus 55% on social media.
Native advertising is considered the least intrusive form of advertising.
Ads on social feeds are considered the most intrusive type of ad, followed by display and paid search ads.
In response to these changing behaviors, marketers must adapt and diversify their marketing channels.
Should include advertising investments directly within Publishers on the open web, where more and more internet users prefer to spend their time and where they are more receptive to recommendations.
Outbrain’s own real-world insights support the claims of the conducted study. Native campaigns within the Outbrain network have outperformed social ads in terms of lead quality, engagement, and cost efficiency for various campaigns of major brands. Here are some illustrative examples:
- +28% Average time spent compared to social for the Ferrero Rocher brand
- +180% leads compared to social for the Microsoft brand
- -200% CPC vs Social for the Brooklinen brand
- -42% CPL vs Social for the Tacotax brand
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