Taboola Competitors in 2025: Top Advertising Platforms Explored

If you’ve used Taboola, you know it’s not perfect. High CPCs, mixed traffic quality, and clunky controls leave a lot to be desired.

Luckily, Taboola isn’t the only option.

In this post, I’ll break down the top Taboola competitors, what they get right (and wrong), and when it makes sense to use them.

Let’s get into it.

What is Taboola

Taboola is a native advertising platform that places sponsored content on major news sites. You’ve seen it—those “Recommended for you” sections under articles, often packed with clicky headlines.

It’s mostly used to drive traffic to blogs, landing pages, or affiliate funnels. The reach is massive thanks to Taboola’s partnerships with sites like Bloomberg and MSN. But targeting is broad, and results depend heavily on your creatives and headlines.

Key features:

• Native ad placements on premium publisher websites
• CPC-based campaigns for traffic generation
• Geo, device, and interest targeting
• Retargeting and custom audience support
• Native video ad formats
• Basic split testing and performance tracking

Drawbacks of Taboola

Taboola can be tricky if you’re not experienced with native ads. It’s powerful, but not beginner-friendly.

Key downsides:

• Weak targeting – You’ll get clicks, but not always the right audience
  
• Low-quality traffic – Some placements bring junk traffic and high bounce rates
• Clunky dashboard – The interface feels outdated and slow to navigate
• Costly testing – Success needs lots of creative testing, which adds up fast
• Basic analytics – Reporting lacks depth compared to other ad platforms

6 Best Taboola Alternatives

Taboola isn’t the only option for native ads—and depending on your goals, it might not even be the best one. Whether you’re after better traffic quality, simpler setup, or more control over targeting, there are solid alternatives worth trying.

Here are a few platforms that offer similar reach, with fewer headaches.

1. Outbrain

Overview: Outbrain is an independent native advertising platform that offers ad placements to advertisers on websites that are part of the Outbrain network. It focuses on content discovery and helps publishers recommend high-quality content.

Pros:

• Intuitive interface and easy to use.
• Low CPC compared to other rivals.
• Offers advanced targeting options.
• Provides unique monetization methods.
• Easy installation.
• Helps content gain more visibility.

Cons:

• Inconsistent traffic quality.
• Inability to edit live projects.
• Difficulty in editing content.
• Inaccurate segmentation.
• High management costs.
• Can make your site look spammy.
• Platform may not be user-friendly for some.

Best for: Content discovery, native advertising, reaching a wide audience, and maximizing ROI through direct response campaigns.

2. Revcontent

Overview: Revcontent is a monetization and recommendation engine that connects advertisers to highly engaged audiences on the web’s leading publisher sites. It is a performance-driven native advertising platform.

Pros:

• Provides decent traffic sources.
• Easy to publish new campaigns.
• Relaxed approval process.
• Vast network of premium publishers.
• Higher revenue generation for publishers.
• Fast loading ads with customizable native widgets.
• Granular targeting, quality traffic, real-time data.

Cons:

• Difficult to get approved by the ad network (high emphasis on website and content quality).
• Customer support/account management can be difficult to reach.
• Traffic quality can be inconsistent, with some fraudulent traffic.
• High Cost Per Click (CPC) reported by some users.

Best for: Monetizing websites, native advertising, reaching highly engaged audiences, and content marketing needs.

3. Google AdSense

Overview: Google AdSense is an advertising program that allows publishers to earn money by displaying relevant ads on their websites, blogs, and YouTube videos. It connects content creators with advertisers.

Pros:

• Easy to set up and manage.
• Low barrier to entry for website monetization.
• Offers intuitive controls for customizing ad placements and layouts.
• Allows blocking of unwanted ads.
• Ads automatically adapt to screen size (responsive).
• Provides performance reports and integrates with Google Analytics.

Cons:

• Limited control over the types of ads displayed.
• Revenue can be unpredictable and depends on traffic and ad clicks.
• Requires a minimum earning of $100 before payout.
• Can make your site look spammy if not managed well.
• Earnings are shared between Google and the website owner.

Best for: Website owners, bloggers, and content creators looking for a simple way to monetize their content with display advertising, especially those with significant traffic.

4. AdRoll

Overview: AdRoll is a programmatic advertising platform that helps businesses run, measure, and optimize multi-channel, full-funnel campaigns. It specializes in retargeting and prospecting, leveraging AI and machine learning.

Pros:

• Comprehensive retargeting across web, social media, and email.
• Easy to use and set up campaigns.
• Offers creative optimization, cross-device tracking, and advanced segmentation.
• Provides consolidated reporting, cross-channel attribution, and performance insights.
• AI-powered platform for optimizing marketing strategy.
• Turnkey integration with major e-commerce platforms.

Cons:

• Some users report issues with quality leads and traffic.
• May not be ideal for small websites.
• Can bring non-converting traffic with prospecting.

Best for: E-commerce brands of all sizes, retargeting strategies, and businesses looking for a comprehensive programmatic advertising platform with AI capabilities.

5. Criteo

Overview: Criteo is a digital advertising platform that specializes in personalized retargeting and prospecting. It connects brands, retailers, and publishers to deliver relevant ads and optimize advertising performance.

Pros:

• Effective dynamic retargeting based on user behavior.
• Easy to set up and manage campaigns with a user-friendly interface.
• Provides access to better inventory with no minimum spend, beneficial for smaller retailers.
• Offers AI-powered automated audiences for prospecting and retargeting.
• Supports various ad formats including brand images, videos, and dynamic creatives.
• Helps expand ad reach and generate brand awareness.

Cons:

• Reach is limited compared to Google Ads.
• Can be more expensive than some other platforms.
• Some users report issues with account representatives.

Best for: E-commerce businesses, retargeting campaigns, dynamic creative optimization, and businesses looking to activate and monetize audiences across the open internet.

6. TripleLift

Overview: TripleLift is a creative supply-side platform (SSP) that transforms standard ads into engaging, high-impact experiences through creative technology. It specializes in native advertising and aims to deliver better outcomes for advertisers and publishers.

Pros:

• Transforms standard creative assets into engaging, high-performance ads.
• Optimized in real-time to resonate across web, CTV, and other platforms.
• Specializes in native ads, which often have higher click-through rates.
• Offers advanced targeting capabilities.
• Helps increase CPMs for publishers and decrease CPCs for advertisers.
• Powered by first-party data for better audience targeting.

Cons:

• Some internal issues reported regarding changes and fear of job loss.
• May not be as well-known as some larger competitors.

Best for: Native advertising, programmatic advertising, enhancing ad creative, and businesses looking for a supply-side platform that focuses on creative solutions and performance.