New research collated by UK native advertising specialist, ContentClick, shows that consumer engagement with native advertising is far superior to online banner ads.

The research, compiled from a wide variety of advertising and publisher sources, clearly demonstrates that {{native advertising is seeing click-through rates (CTR’s) nearly ten times higher than traditional banner display formats}}.

This figure is corroborated by ContentClick’s own native advertising network of 500 publishers which is averaging CTR’s of 2%, almost a ten-fold increase on traditional display ads. It also tallies with findings from Hearst Corporation which recently disclosed figures for native advertising within Harper’s Bazaar showing a similar ten-fold uplift.

The research, presented in a new infographic entitled the ‘best online ad placements’, also shows that UK advertisers spent a record £3 billion on online advertising in the first half of 2013. Other findings note that the average UK consumer is spending 43 hours a month online.

Alex Attinger, Managing Director of ContentClick, says: “Industry standard click-through rates – the rate at which an advertisement is clicked per 1,000 ad impressions – average 0.21% in the UK. Native advertising networks are currently outperforming this figure almost ten-fold. I don’t think there can be any greater argument for advertisers to test this media channel, especially when the return-on-investment has the potential to be so high.”