Content and digital marketing always overlap, and experienced marketers are constantly looking for new ways to reach audiences and expand the reach of their content as well as the product or service the company provides. Taboola and Outbrain are two popular platforms for content-focused marketing, and when it comes to promoting content in your marketing strategy, choosing between Outbrain and Taboola is always very tough. In this article, we will go over the Taboola and Outbrain platforms and explore in depth the key factors that differentiate these systems. Ultimately, you will be in a position to choose the best platform for content promotion according to your business requirements.
Getting to know Taboola - Content advertising system
Taboola is a content marketing platform for advertisers, publishers, and media companies. The platform connects businesses with their target audience by publishing relevant content on websites and advertising across social networks. Taboola helps business owners increase brand awareness with B2C and B2B targeting options, allowing them to reach a broader audience. Taboola was founded in 2007 and serves over 550 million unique visitors per month with over 200 million recommendations. In addition, Taboola’s platform provides advertisers with a simple and useful dashboard that helps them keep people on their websites, monetize traffic, and distribute their content to high-quality audiences.
Main features of Taboola
Taboola has a wide range of features and capabilities within the system that distinguish it from other advertising platforms. Some of Taboola’s features include:
- Site owners can improve the quality of their content by using A/B testing and additional insights from the system
- Taboola helps site owners increase traffic through collaborations with third-party sites and partners.
- Taboola allows you to optimize your website so that each visitor gets a unique experience based on how they interact with the site.
- Users can benefit from in-feed videos that blend optimally with the content and improve the browsing experience.
- Advertisers can see which post-click behavior works best for them and tailor it to campaign requirements.
Getting to know Outbrain - Content advertising system
Outbrain is an advertising platform that allows marketers to communicate with their target audience by providing personalized recommendations across the world’s leading advertising spaces. On Outbrain, the system’s algorithm prioritizes the most engaging headlines in the campaigns you create; more popular content gets more exposure in order to attract new customers. In addition, Outbrain helps advertisers monetize, measure the performance of their content, and provides them with flexible solutions and customization options within the system to meet the requirements and content types of any company or business looking to advertise. Outbrain was established in 2006 and can connect advertisers to prominent websites such as CNN, FOX, the Maariv Group, leading news sites in Israel, and more.
Main features of Outbrain
Outbrain has a wide range of features and capabilities within the system that distinguish it from other advertising platforms. Some of Outbrain’s features include:
- Advertisers can use Outbrain’s API to improve video exposure and display video recommendations. Additionally, they can collaborate with content creators on the platform.
- Outbrain provides useful conversion tools and A/B testing options for advertisers looking to achieve specific goals.
- Outbrain VR helps make data-driven decisions gathered through algorithms to analyze and improve audience engagement.
- Outbrain’s Amplify service helps advertisers reach an engaged audience through a PPC payment model and direct traffic straight to articles, websites, or videos.
Outbrain VS Taboola - Which system should you use?
Taboola and Outbrain are highly popular content marketing and promotion platforms in the market. There is no definitive answer as to which system you should use, and everyone needs to make their choice based on the needs of their company or business. We have compared the companies across several key factors to help you make the right decision:
Outbrain VS Taboola - Support options
For advertisers and marketers, technical support is a crucial factor. If the system stops working or your campaigns get stuck while working, you will want to speak with a support representative to help solve the issue. With Taboola, you generally receive a response within a reasonable time, and it provides a personal account manager for each client, but within the platform, there are no text or video tutorials, nor FAQ pages to assist you. On the other hand, Outbrain provides FAQ pages, guides, and online as well as phone support. Additionally, during the first 30 days, an Outbrain support contact will reach out to you to provide useful recommendations for working with your content.
Outbrain VS Taboola - User experience
User experience refers to the interaction and experience a user has with a product, system, or service. Taboola’s user interface has improved over the years, and now advertisers on the platform enjoy navigating Taboola Ads, which significantly enhances the experience. The interface includes custom reporting tools and a built-in recommendation engine to improve campaigns. The user experience in Outbrain is more user-friendly, and the interface is more visually appealing. The interface offers effortless ad building along with import and export options that save you time and improve targeting precision. Additionally, Outbrain features a drag-and-drop ad builder that streamlines the workflow.
Outbrain VS Taboola - System quality and performance
One of the most important factors for the success of any given platform is its quality and performance. Both platforms, Taboola and Outbrain, have captured significant market share due to their quality and performance. Taboola may be a better choice for you if you focus on direct response advertising aimed at generating sales and a positive ROI. The network of sites in Taboola’s system and their bidding flexibility typically yield a quality CPA. In contrast, Outbrain distinguishes itself from its competitors by connecting to top-tier websites where you can advertise, which may suit a company focusing on brand awareness or content and media distribution.
Outbrain VS Taboola - Content creation
Understanding the platform and its operation is very crucial when trying to set up a new campaign. Outbrain and Taboola each have their own set of rules and standards for content distribution. Taboola’s system advises you to create informative and engaging content, and the company believes that using statistics, data, and lists is a great approach that can help engage the target audience. In addition, Taboola claims that using numbers in headlines generates significantly more traffic than headlines without numbers. Outbrain’s platform operates differently; Outbrain believes that negative words in headlines perform better than positive words. Furthermore, Outbrain takes longer to approve ads, and it is not uncommon for the system to return an ad for revisions and improvements before publishing.
Outbrain VS Taboola - Payment model
Both Taboola and Outbrain are great options for advertising and marketing content while focusing on a quality return on investment. Both platforms offer a simple and flexible payment model. Taboola offers a cost-per-click (CPC) model, with an average price of around $0.03 for mobile devices (of course, this varies based on additional parameters such as niche, targeting, content, etc.). Outbrain’s pricing model is also based on CPC, where you are charged according to the number of clicks based on the CPC bid you select. In Outbrain as well, the average cost per click is $0.03 on mobile devices.
In conclusion - Which system should you use?
In this article, we covered the world’s leading content advertising and marketing systems – Taboola and Outbrain. Having gained a deeper understanding of the systems and how they work, you are now in a better position to choose the best platform for you and your business. The decision whether to choose Taboola or Outbrain is entirely based on company goals, resources, personal preference, and how well you connect with the platform. However, Taboola caters to low-to-medium-tier advertisers, while Outbrain focuses more on giant brands and enterprises.
About the author
Dvir Naaman, 27 years old, graduate of the Digital Marketing course at HackerU College. Experienced in building WordPress websites, paid advertising on Google, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok. Specializes in organic search (SEO) at Fialkov Digital. Has extensive experience in e-commerce and dropshipping, and is the owner of Merchant Center – a website consolidating information on e-commerce systems and advanced marketing tools to increase business conversions with an emphasis on e-commerce store sales.
