In the MediaRadar 2016 Consumer Advertising Report, we see that native is on the rise with a 74% YoY increase in advertisers, while programmatic has taken a dip and is down 12% YoY. There are a couple reasons for this, and they may be shaping how programmatic will need to change in the coming years.

First is the large push for brand safety in the programmatic space. With more advertisers indicating that they will not stand for nonviewable placements, bot fraud and brand safety issues, there has been a push to native – advertisers are not shying away from paying more for premium inventory that is brand-safe.

The second reason is that native ads generally perform better than standard display ads. Consumers look at native ads more frequently, due to the placements these ad units live in. Users are more receptive to ads that are relevant to what they’re reading when they’re reading it. This has always been the major appeal of native units: they look and feel like the content they are surrounded by.

With native advertisers increasing at a fast rate, programmatic advertisers will have to work hard to quell the worries of advertisers on brand safety. At the same time, they will need to continually evolve the ability to target the right consumers at the right place and time.