//Native networks · Updated November 2, 2026
Outbrain ads: what’s winning right now
Outbrain runs recommendation widgets on publisher sites, much like Taboola: sponsored stories shown next to the publisher’s own articles. Advertisers buy through Outbrain’s Amplify platform. Outbrain’s creative guidelines are among the strictest on native, so a picture that passes Outbrain will usually pass the others.
What’s winning on Outbrain right now
Only 28 of the week’s 1,824 most-bought native ads ran on Outbrain, from 20 advertisers. That is too few to say what wins on Outbrain alone, so the winning formulas below are from every native network. The rules and specs further down are Outbrain’s own.
Winning formulas across native this week
Each is the psychology and kind of photo several different advertisers keep paying for, with how many use it and how long their ads have run. A winning formula is the idea, not anyone’s ad: make your own version for your product.
Product held in hand for scale
- 12 advertisers
- 19 ads
- 17 days running (median)
- Shopping & gadgets
- The product in a hand
Close-up shots of a small product held between fingers or in the palm to show size, detail and tactile appeal.
Isolated studio product shot
- 11 advertisers
- 18 ads
- 45 days running (median)
- Shopping & gadgets
- Clean product shots
Clean studio or gradient backgrounds that isolate a single product (or set of variants) so shape, color and specs are front-and-center.
Close-up cash or money imagery
- 9 advertisers
- 11 ads
- 46 days running (median)
- Finance & insurance
- Money, checks and benefits
Tight shots of bills, stacks, rolls, gold or money-counting machines that instantly signal payouts, savings or monetary value.
Watch the rules: Avoid anything that looks like an official notice, a government seal or a fake check: networks reject those.
Side-by-side before/after comparisons
- 8 advertisers
- 25 ads
- 59 days running (median)
- Beauty & anti-aging
- Before-and-after comparisons
Shows a direct visual transformation (split, two-panel, or side-by-side) to promise visible results from the product or treatment, letting viewers quickly judge effectiveness.
Watch the rules: These are running on the networks right now, so a before/after in the same form is fair game. Keep it honest and no more extreme than the ones already running.
Carefree moments of the target customer
- 8 advertisers
- 10 ads
- 13 days running (median)
- Seniors & Medicare
- The customer in a good moment
Shows older adults enjoying relaxed, social or joyful scenes to sell the desired 'after' lifestyle and emotional benefit of a product or service.
Watch the rules: Keep people fully dressed in ordinary poses: suggestive shots get rejected.
See them with blurred real examples, space by space, on What’s winning.
See this week’s top native ads on every network in the free native ad library.
Outbrain ad specs
From Outbrain’s own help pages, checked October 2026. Networks change these, so check them in your account before a big upload.
| Image size | 1200 x 800 px (3:2) is the size Outbrain’s help center gives for its inventory. |
|---|---|
| Headline | Up to 100 characters are supported, but Outbrain recommends 60 or fewer, and some buying platforms allow only 50 to 60. |
| Brand name | Up to 25 characters in Outbrain’s programmatic guidance. |
| Variations | Outbrain suggests testing three or four title variations per piece of content. |
| Text on the image | Outbrain advises against images with text in them, including promotional messages. |
What we deliver: Every picture we make comes in four sizes from one image: 1200 x 674 for Taboola, 1200 x 628 and 1200 x 1200 for Microsoft, and 1200 x 800 (3:2) for Outbrain, Revcontent and MGID, with the subject in the centre. Headlines are written to 60 characters or fewer, which fits Outbrain’s recommendation.
Every network side by side: native ad image sizes.
Rules that get Outbrain ads rejected
The picture rules below come from Outbrain’s published policies. Each comes with the fix we use when a winning idea breaks one: keep the idea, change how it’s shown.
Zoomed-in or disembodied body parts (sexual or gross, including feet, bellies and skin conditions)
Instead: Match the close-ups winners already run on Outbrain, never more extreme, and nothing sexual or gross. A clean close-up of what the product treats, like a smile for a dental product, is fine.
Before-and-after pictures of any kind
Instead: If winners on Outbrain run one, the same form is fair game, never more extreme. If none do, show one honest after-state.
Circles, arrows or highlights drawn on the picture
Instead: Let the composition point at the subject: framing and focus, not drawn marks.
Images designed to shock, and graphic health conditions
Instead: Show the moment the problem bothers someone, not the condition itself.
Celebrities and politicians, and political, religious or hate symbols
Instead: Use invented people and neutral settings.
Fake interface elements (play buttons, warnings)
Instead: A plain photograph only.
Every network’s rules in one place: why native ads get rejected.
How to launch and test on Outbrain
- Upload three or four titles per piece of content, as Outbrain suggests, and three to five pictures.
- Check every picture against Outbrain’s rules and against what winners already run there: no arrows or circles, and a before-and-after or close-up only in the same form as one already running. These are the usual Outbrain rejections.
- Run one audience and one country first so results are comparable.
- Keep the leaders, cut the losers, and add one new picture per round built on a winning formula from your space.
The step that matters most is the last one: a steady supply of new pictures built on what is already working. That is the part ConvertBetterAds does for you. See how to test native ads for the full method.
Sources
Outbrain: best practices for creating content on Amplify · Outbrain: programmatic campaign and creative best practices · Outbrain: Amplify guidelines
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What image size does Outbrain use?
Outbrain’s help center gives 1200 x 800 px as the supported image size for its inventory. If you buy Outbrain through another platform, that platform may ask for its own size.
How long can an Outbrain headline be?
Outbrain supports up to 100 characters but recommends 60 or fewer, and some buying platforms only allow 50 to 60. Writing to 60 keeps one headline usable everywhere.
Are before-and-after images allowed on Outbrain?
Outbrain’s written guidelines say no. If winners on Outbrain run one in a given form, that form is passing review: match it, never more extreme. If none do, show the result on its own as a real moment.
Is Outbrain or Taboola better?
Neither is better for everyone. They sell similar placements on different sets of publishers. Many advertisers test both. In our weekly research, far more of the most-bought native ads ran on Taboola, but that reflects what our data source sees, not which network will work for you.
How much of the native ads you track run on Outbrain?
In the week of November 2, 2026, 28 of the 1,824 most-bought native ads we read ran on Outbrain (2%), from 20 advertisers. That share reflects what public native ad libraries see, not Outbrain’s size.
Keep reading
- Native ad image sizes for every networkNative ad image sizes, ratios and headline limits for Taboola, Microsoft, Outbrain, Revcontent and MGID in…
- Native ad headlines that keep runningHow long native ad headlines are, and which traits show up more on ads that have run for a month than on…
- Why native ads get rejectedThe picture and headline rules that get native ads rejected on Taboola, Microsoft, Outbrain, Revcontent…
- How to test native adsHow to test native ad pictures and headlines on Taboola, Microsoft, Outbrain, Revcontent and MGID: what to…
- Taboola ads: what’s winning right nowWhat’s winning in Taboola ads, from this week’s most-bought native ads: winning formulas, how long winners…
- Microsoft ads: what’s winning right nowWhat’s winning in Microsoft audience ads: winning formulas with evidence, image sizes and headline limits,…
What’s winning this week, space by space → · Native Winners, free every Monday →
Figures from our research for the week of November 2, 2026: the most-bought native ads in the US from public native ad libraries. They count ads, advertisers, days running and placements, never anyone’s clicks or sales.