Popular Online Ad Firm Unveils Engagement-Boosting AI Platform

An Israeli online advertising company that uses AI to increase engagement has launched a new branding platform to boost engagement by visitors to its clients’ websites.

Outbrain offers native ad placements (paid ads that match the look of the pages where they appear) to advertisers on the thousands of websites that are part of its network, including leading news and entertainment sites such as CNN, Fox News, Sky News and the New York Post. 

The ads are often featured as recommended content on websites, appearing below or beside the article the user just read, or as part of their “feed” on social media apps like Facebook or Twitter. 

Outbrain’s new platform, Onyx, uses AI to predict the probability of the ad placement capturing the reader’s attention. It learns and predicts how customers engage with brands, based on billions of data points. 

Onyx allows advertisers to use Outbrain’s in-house studio to create digital ads that will appear exclusively as the user gradually scrolls through the page content, so the ad stays longer on the screen and has a higher chance of being noticed.

Outbrain has launched Onyx in partnership with Adelaide, a firm that uses metrics to measure media quality accurately. The service is now available in the US, UK, Germany, France, and Italy.

“Onyx is part of our long-term strategy to become a full-funnel marketing partner, significantly growing our business with enterprise brands and agencies,” said David Kostman, Co-CEO of Outbrain.

“Onyx delivers a unique opportunity for advertisers to win real attention and drive business impact while benefiting our publisher partners with incremental revenue vital to sustain free and independent journalism.”

Netanya-headquartered Outbrain was founded in 2006, and is used by over 7,000 organizations globally.