People are largely fine with ads if it means the Internet is free

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Consumers are overwhelmingly in favor of a free, ad-supported internet, according to a new study by Zogby Analytics.

The study was conducted among 1,004 US adults, and asked them questions about internet ads, as well as how much they would be willing to pay if certain services started charging subscriptions fees. 

The study found that nearly 85% of respondents preferred an ad-supported internet, instead of paying for online content. Meanwhile, three-quarters of respondents said that they would reduce their online activities if they had to pay at least several hundred dollars a year for access to content and services. This is an encouraging sign for the digital ad industry, and perhaps less so for web properties that seek to rely solely on paid-subscriptions.

Here are some other key findings in the study:

• News content is slightly more valued than social networks. On average, respondents indicated that they would be willing to spend $6.37 per month to receive unlimited news content, and $6.27 a month to keep their social media accounts active. This is encouraging for publishers as it means that consumers value the destination and end-product – news content – slightly more than the channels that drive much of their traffic. From January to February 2016, social drove 46% of traffic to news sites, according toParse.ly.
• Video, music streaming, and sports content are the most highly valued. Popular sports pages (sites like ESPN and Bleacher Report) were valued significantly higher than news content overall, at $7.75 per month, while music and video streaming services were valued at $7.68 per month and $7.83 per month, respectively. The significant premium attributed to sports, video, and music streaming suggests that offering paid subscriptions access to this content could work. 
• Online ads are mostly effective, but still aren’t persuasive for a lot of people. Nearly 80% of respondents said that online ads have been useful in helping them find new products and reach a purchasing decision. In particular, ads were most effective for the movies/TV shows, technology/devices, and clothing categories. But 20% of respondents said that they did not find online ads to be useful in assisting with the shopping process. 

One of the more popular forms of advertising today is native ads — or ads that take on the look and feel of the content surrounding them — that are taking over digital advertising. 

By 2021, native display ad revenue in the US, which includes native in-feed ads on publisher properties and social platforms, will make up 74% of total US display ad revenue, up from a 56% share in 2016, according to new BI Intelligence estimates based off historical data from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PwC, as well as IHS.

The rapid uptick in native's share of display ad revenue can largely be attributed to the dominance of social platforms like Facebook and Twitter — which were early champions of native and rely almost entirely on native formats — as well as the introduction of new programmatic technologies that are making it easier for publishers and advertisers to scale native campaigns. 

Margaret Boland, research analyst for BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on native advertising that breaks out native ads into three categories: social native, native-style display, and sponsored content (also referred to as premium native). It provides forecasts for how revenues from these formats will grow over the next five years and looks at what factors, in particular, are driving up spending on each of these ad units. As a note, because revenues from these three types of native content can overlap, it does not provide an overall native forecast. Finally, it lays out some of the challenges that face properties that rely on native ads, namely ad frequency and scalability issues.

Here are some key takeaways from the report: 

• Native-display ads, including social native and native ads in-feed on publisher websites, will make up the bulk of native ad revenue from 2016-2021. Native display ad revenue in the US will rise at a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17% during this time period to eclipse $36 billion. The rise of native video ads, particularly on social platforms, will be one of the main drivers of this growth.  
• Social platforms generate most of their revenue from native ads and will continue to dominate overall native ad spending through 2021. The dominance of social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat on mobile devices, where the entire experience is within a feed, will help propel social's contribution to overall native ad revenue through 2021.
• Sponsored content, which is categorized separately from native-display due to the direct relationship between publishers and brands in creating the format, will be the fastest-growing native format over the next five years. However, the high cost to produce these ads and the limitation in inventory will limit the format. 

In full, the report:

• Forecasts US native ad revenue growth from 2016-2021 through three separate forecasts: native-style display, social, and sponsored content. 
• Identifies the major drivers of native ad revenue growth. 
• Discusses key players within each category that are contributing to the rise of native. 
• Presents some of the challenges of wide-spread native adoption with BuzzFeed as a prime example. 
• Lays out future opportunities for native ads, including virtual reality, messaging apps, and TV. 

To get your copy of this invaluable guide, choose one of these options:

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The choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, you’ve given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of native advertising.