Taboola’s Predictive Audiences boost conversions & ROI for advertisers

Taboola has introduced Predictive Audiences, an enhancement to its performance marketing platform Realize, aimed at helping advertisers reach a greater number of high-converting customers.

The Predictive Audiences feature utilises advertisers' first-party conversion data to build artificial intelligence-powered audience segments intended to identify users with a higher likelihood of conversion across Taboola's network.

According to Taboola, advertisers including The Motley Fool, QuinStreet, and NerdWallet have seen conversion increases of up to 270% since adopting Predictive Audiences, while some report increasing their investment in the Realize platform by approximately 40% year-over-year, all with little impact on their cost per acquisition (CPA).

Since Predictive Audiences launched in limited availability in February, Taboola states that weekly spend attributed to the feature has tripled, citing growing adoption by advertisers seeking better campaign performance.

Realize is described as an independent performance advertising platform designed to deliver outcomes at scale beyond traditional search and social media channels. Taboola says that Predictive Audiences takes this further by blending advertisers' first-party conversion data with the company's own network data, using artificial intelligence to build audience segments that target high-potential users and drive efficiency in customer acquisition.

Predictive Audiences is promoted by Taboola as offering several benefits. The technology is designed to identify users likely to take action, such as making a purchase or submitting a lead form, and then use artificial intelligence to find similar users across the company's network. Advertisers are also able to adjust the size of the targeted audience, balancing between scale and efficiency to suit the specific objectives of their campaigns. For instance, marketers may choose to focus on a small, high-performing segment for better conversion rates but less reach, or they may opt for a broader audience to maximise scale, accepting a possible decrease in conversion rate.

According to Taboola, Realize now enables advertisers to target display inventory and access a wider portion of Taboola's publisher, app, and device manufacturer (OEM) network. The technology is powered by an AI performance engine, which Taboola claims benefits from code-on-page integrations with publishers, providing unique data for campaign optimisation and ad placement.

Advertisers have cited improvements in marketing outcomes since adopting Predictive Audiences. Ajay Bhatia, Marketing Manager for The Motley Fool, said, "By leveraging Predictive Audiences, we've unlocked a whole new audience while maintaining a strong CPA, driving meaningful improvements to our overall margin. Predictive Audiences have proven instrumental in refining our targeting strategy and maximising our marketing efficiency. It's a must-have for any team looking to elevate their campaign performance."

The marketing team at QuinStreet noted the ease and speed of the implementation: "The ease of implementation and rapid scalability allowed us to see results almost immediately. Taboola has become a key partner in helping us reach the right users at the right time, all while maximising efficiency and growth."

Sammy Linares, Performance Marketing Manager at NerdWallet, commented on both optimisation and scaling benefits: "Predictive Audiences have played a key role in improving our campaign efficiency and optimising spend. By leveraging data-driven audience selection, Predictive Audiences have helped increase ROAS and CVRs, allowing for more precise targeting and better budget allocation. This approach has also supported scaling efforts, ultimately driving higher-quality leads and improved performance across our campaigns."

Adam Singolda, Chief Executive Officer at Taboola, stated, "Realize leverages Taboola's core strengths - proprietary technology, unique data we have that others don't, and massive reach across the internet. With the addition of Predictive Audiences, we are giving advertisers yet another way to connect with consumers, those likely to take action, based on our unique AI and understanding of what drives action across our vast network."

Taboola works with a variety of publishers and device manufacturers, using its technology to provide performance advertising beyond the traditional search and social media advertising options.