Brands have spent years adapting their video for vertical, full-screen feeds on social platforms. Those same assets now have another home: vertical video experiences on publisher sites and in news and content apps. The placement is familiar, but the context is different, and that difference is what makes it valuable.
What a sponsored story is
In a vertical video feed, readers swipe from one clip to the next. A sponsored story is an ad that appears in that sequence, between editorial clips, filling the screen the same way the content does. It is clearly labelled as sponsored and is usually skippable after a few seconds.
Because it arrives in the natural rhythm of the feed, it does not interrupt the reader the way a pop-up or a pre-roll in front of a single article video can.
Why the context matters
On a publisher site, the viewer is not scrolling an endless social timeline. They opened the feed from an article they chose to read, on a topic they care about. That gives brands:
- A relevant setting. A car brand’s story can appear in a feed opened from motoring coverage; a food brand’s next to recipes.
- Full attention on the screen. A full-screen vertical ad has no competing content around it.
- A brand-safe environment. Editorial content from established publishers, with category and advertiser controls applied.
- Supply you can verify, when the inventory is declared in ads.txt, app-ads.txt and sellers.json.
Creative that works
The best sponsored stories follow the grammar of the feed rather than fighting it.
Design for sound off
Most viewers start muted. Put the message in the picture and in on-screen text, and treat sound as a bonus.
Make the first second count
Viewers decide quickly whether to keep watching or swipe. Show the product, the brand or the hook immediately. Slow brand reveals rarely survive in a feed.
Keep text inside the safe area
The top and bottom of a vertical screen carry interface elements: progress bars, labels, buttons. Keep logos, text and calls to action in the central area so nothing important is covered.
One clear action
A single call to action works better than several. Tell viewers exactly what to do next, and make sure the landing page is fast on a phone.
Reuse, but adapt
Assets made for social platforms often work with small changes: removing prompts to follow an account, adjusting text placement, and checking that the pacing suits a slightly more editorial context.
Beyond the full-screen story
A vertical player can carry more than one kind of ad. Alongside full-screen 9:16 video, formats include horizontal 16:9 video shown within the player, display creatives that briefly take the player’s place, and a small unit below the player that runs while the content continues. Buyers can choose the mix that fits their objective. The ad formats page shows each one running.
How to buy it
Sponsored stories and other in-player formats can be bought programmatically, through private marketplace deals or directly. For brands and agencies, our advertisers page explains how we package premium video, display and CTV inventory inside editorial content.
Vertical video is no longer a social-only format. For brands that already have the creative, publisher feeds offer a full-screen moment in a context readers chose for themselves.
