Content discovery and native advertising platform Taboola has announced the beta of ‘Taboola Stories’, a new way for publishers to engage readers through short-form video.
Publishers will be able to embed Taboola Stories within their homepages and articles in mobile environments, presenting readers with constantly updated recommendations that, once selected, launch vertical, mobile-friendly stories that cycle automatically.
According to the company, the Taboola Stories product also represents an exciting opportunity for brand advertisers to reach consumers in new premium and impactful environments on publishers’ websites.
Publishers will be able to recirculate relevant content based on articles people are reading, which Taboola said could “significantly increase the amount of time people spend on their sites”.
In addition, Stories opens up new ways for publishers to drive revenue by tapping into the growing popularity of mobile-friendly vertical formats that have become a substantial part of advertisers’ social budgets today, it said.
“Taboola Stories offers a brand new reading experience for readers that combines simplicity, entertainment and usability,” Taboola said in a statement.
“With it, readers have a new way to visually discover related topics to the content they are already on. Taboola Stories are visually appealing and automatically cycle through article summaries, so readers can quickly skip to new content and ensure they never miss relevant stories.”
Taboola Stories leverages the same recommendation engine as Taboola Feed, a personalised stream of article and video content. It is powered by more than a decade of investment by Taboola in artificial intelligence, as well as data from readership of more than 500 million daily active users.
“We’re combining the best of two worlds, making it easier than ever for publishers to keep readers engaged and allowing readers to discover more content and promoted recommendations by advertisers they may like,” Taboola chief executive Adam Singolda (pictured) said.
“Taboola Stories is a big leap forward in the flexibility we’ve given to publishers, and their abilities to interact with readers.
“We’re fortunate to have spent 13 years innovating to deliver more opportunities for publishers to develop closer relationships with readers and drive more engagement, and revenue in the process.
“Compared to story-driven formats on traditional social media platforms, Taboola Stories offer similar formats, but side-by-side to premium, editorial content that exists in the open web.”
