Native advertising, sponsored content that appears within the context of the online user experience, is changing the game of online revenue generation. The concept is so fluid and so controversial that even industry insiders can't agree on exactly what constitutes native advertising let alone the standards, best practices, or possibilities of what native advertising can accomplish.

That's why the research group Hexagram teamed with the professional service and B2B PR consultant Spada to conduct an international survey of key players in the online advertising industry. This infographic explains the basics of the full report of the survey results, which can be downloaded from Hexagram. As you can see from the infographic, however, online publishers, brands, and ad agencies agree that native advertising is a considerable and growing force.

So what is native advertising? The report goes to great lengths to define it, but its essence is simply content that fits within the context any online user is taking in. The dinosaur of online advertising, the banner ad, is a classic example of what native advertising is not--a banner ad reflects a clear boundary between the realms of content and sponsorship. Users know that the blog post they're reading is the real content and that the flashy images on the sidebar are the commercials. And after a couple of decades of advertisers operating that way, users have learned to ignore the ads.

In response to that trend in user behavior, publishers and brands (and, slowly but surely, ad agencies) have worked together to introduce sponsored content past the borders surrounding the content users want and straight into the content itself. Sponsored tweets, recommended facebook posts, and featured instagram photos are transforming experiences users once fancied "free." While public reaction has varied, this report shows what people on the business side of things think of the trends, and the results are intriguing.

Some key questions that the infographic points to and the report examines in greater detail: Are ad agencies behind the curve with native advertising? Do brands risk hurting their image by intruding on platforms users want to keep ad-free? Will native advertising replace traditional internet ads in the future?

Time will tell, but this thorough investigation into the minds of market insiders gives a great look into the future.

Source: State of Native Advertising via Hexagram