What are in-feed ads?
In-feed ads are advertisements placed inside the content feed of a social media, news or short-video app, designed to look like the posts around them and seen as people scroll. In Chinese they are called 信息流广告 (xìnxīliú guǎnggào).
Also known as: Feed ads, In-feed advertising, 信息流广告, Native in-feed ads
What sets in-feed ads apart is that they look like content. Ocean Engine, ByteDance’s ad platform in China, describes its feed ads as native in form, so that users read the ad the way they read the news, and lists formats such as large and small images, image sets, video and carousels.1 On YouTube the equivalent is the in-feed video ad, which appears in YouTube search results, alongside related videos and on the YouTube mobile homepage; it shows a thumbnail from the video with some text, and the video plays only when someone clicks.2
How do in-feed ads differ from splash ads and search ads?
The difference is where and when they appear: a splash ad shows when an app opens, an in-feed ad sits among the posts a user scrolls through, and a search ad appears among search results.
| Format | When it appears | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Splash ad (开屏广告) | Loads when the app opens and shows for a fixed time | Ocean Engine’s description1 |
| In-feed ad (信息流广告) | Among the posts a user scrolls through | Same |
| Search ad (paid ranking, 竞价排名) | Among search results; in China it must be clearly labeled as an ad and set apart from organic results | Measures for the Administration of Internet Advertising, Article 93 |
Do in-feed ads have to be labeled as ads?
In China, yes. Online ads must be recognizable so that consumers can tell they are ads (Measures for the Administration of Internet Advertising, Article 9).3 The State Administration for Market Regulation’s enforcement guidelines on the identifiability of online advertising list placing ads in news, audiovisual or other online content feeds without clearly labeling them as advertising among the practices regulators should act against (item 10(3)).4
Where can in-feed ads be bought?
The major content platforms in China and the social platforms abroad all sell in-feed ads through their own ad consoles: in China, for example, Ocean Engine (Douyin, Toutiao and other ByteDance apps), Xiaohongshu Juguang, Weibo Super Fensitong and Baidu Marketing; abroad, TikTok, Meta (Facebook and Instagram) and Google Ads (including YouTube). Each console’s official site and use are listed under platforms and tools.
Further reading
- Ads on platforms abroad for Chinese companies: Going global: social ads
- Ads on Douyin, Xiaohongshu and other Chinese platforms for foreign brands: China entry: PR & social ads
Notes
- 《我的广告会如何展现？》 (How will my ads be shown?)
- About video ad formats
- 《互联网广告管理办法》 (Measures for the Administration of Internet Advertising)
- 《互联网广告可识别性执法指南》 (Enforcement Guidelines on the Identifiability of Internet Advertising)