Taboola vs Outbrain (2026): Which Is Better for Advertisers?

Taboola and Outbrain are the two biggest native ad networks, and for most advertisers the honest answer is "test both". Taboola has more reach, thanks to its exclusive Yahoo deal, Apple News and smartphone partners, so it is usually where you scale in the US. Outbrain, now part of Teads, is often stronger on premium European publishers and makes brand-safe campaigns easier with allowlists. We are an official partner of both and run campaigns on them every day; here is how they really differ in 2026 and how we decide where the budget goes.

Taboola vs Outbrain at a glance

Sources: Taboola and Teads public filings and investor releases, the Realize help center and outbrain.com, checked October 2026.

The short answer

• Start with Taboola if you sell mainly in the US or UK and want the most volume on premium audiences.
• Start with Outbrain if you sell in Italy or elsewhere in Europe, or if brand safety matters and you want to launch on curated allowlists.
• Run both once one platform is profitable. The two networks only partly overlap, so the second one adds real incremental volume.

What changed in 2025–2026

Both platforms changed shape recently. In February 2025 Taboola launched Realize, its performance platform: it adds display inventory to classic native widgets and new audiences such as Predictive Audiences and Attentive Audiences. In the same month Outbrain acquired Teads for about $1 billion, and in June 2025 the combined company renamed itself Teads.

For performance advertisers, day-to-day work on Outbrain has changed very little: you still log into the Outbrain platform, pay per click and optimize towards conversions. Taboola's change is bigger: Realize brings new targeting options and a stronger push towards automated bidding. If you read a Taboola vs Outbrain comparison written before 2025, most of its details are out of date.

Reach and publishers

Taboola has the widest premium reach. Since 2023 it has run native advertising on Yahoo under an exclusive 30-year deal, and it also powers Apple News, NBC News, the USA TODAY Network and the home screens of Samsung and Xiaomi phones. Yahoo brings huge volume but very variable CPA, which is why we test Yahoo-only and no-Yahoo campaigns separately.

Outbrain is smaller overall but strong on premium news sites, particularly in Europe. In Italy it is one of our main native channels for COD e-commerce, health and wellness and lead generation.

Cost and budget

Both run CPC auctions, so there is no price list: CPC depends on country, device, vertical and competition. Which one is cheaper changes by market and month, so compare them on CPA and ROAS, not CPC.

What matters more is giving the algorithm enough budget to learn:

• Taboola: Realize recommends a daily budget of at least 10x your target CPA and 2–3 days of learning before judging. We test with $100–200 a day per campaign and pause an ad after about $12 spent without a conversion.
• Outbrain: our rule is a daily budget of at least 7x the CPA goal. With a $10 CPA goal, that is at least $70 a day per campaign.

For a full breakdown, read how much native ads cost or try our native ads budget calculator.

Targeting and optimization

The two platforms work with the same logic but different units. On Taboola you analyze and block sites; on Outbrain you analyze and block sections, a publisher site or part of one.

• Taboola: launch on Maximize Conversions, switch to Target CPA only after about 50 conversions in 7 days, block sites with high CTR and low conversion rate, and keep automated rules simple. On one account, rules firing more than 40 times a week doubled CPMs and pushed CPA up by 134%.
• Outbrain: block a section when it has spent 1.5x the CPA goal with zero conversions. Stricter rules kill good sections before they convert. There is a limit of about 1,500 blocked sections per campaign, so move long blocklists to account level.
• Both: separate mobile and desktop, track soft conversions (add to cart, form start, initiate checkout) so the algorithm learns with few sales, and block placements with a form-start rate below 5% on lead gen.

Realize also adds audiences that Outbrain doesn't offer in the same form: Predictive Audiences built from your converters, Attentive Audiences for retargeting engaged visitors, and search keyword and mail domain targeting in selected markets.

Ad policy

Both review ads strictly, especially in health: no "cure" claims, disclaimers on before-and-after images, no fake urgency, no headlines that look like real news. The differences are in the details. Outbrain doesn't accept "TODAY ONLY" in headlines, while "TODAY" is fine. On Outbrain, never change the landing URL of an approved campaign: create a new campaign so the new page goes through review cleanly. On Taboola, Apple News placements are stricter than the rest of the network, so we send them to a generic, fully compliant landing page.

Scaling

On Taboola we raise budgets by 15–20% every two days, or duplicate a winning campaign onto another device or placement. On Outbrain we scale profitable campaigns by up to 30%, or duplicate the mobile campaign on a different allowlist to reach new sections. On both, a big jump in budget often resets learning and pushes CPA up.

Pros and cons

How we decide where the budget goes

1. Pick the first platform by market. US and UK: Taboola. Italy and most of Europe: Outbrain and Taboola side by side.
2. Launch the same funnel on both once tracking is in place: same advertorial, same offer, 10+ ads per campaign.
3. Compare on CPA after a fair test, not after the first day.
4. Scale the winner and keep the other as a second source of volume with its own creatives.

If you also want to test angles on a lower budget, add MGID: see Taboola vs MGID and our list of the best native advertising platforms.

Frequently asked questions

Is Taboola or Outbrain better?

Neither is better in general. Taboola has more reach and is usually stronger in the US; Outbrain is often stronger on premium European publishers. Test both with the same funnel and let CPA decide.

Did Taboola and Outbrain merge?

No. They agreed to merge in 2019 but called the deal off in 2020. Both went public in 2021, and in 2025 Outbrain acquired Teads and took the Teads name.

Does Outbrain still exist?

Yes. The company is now called Teads, but the Outbrain platform for performance advertisers still runs.

Which is better for lead generation?

Both work. In the US, Taboola usually gives more volume for home services and finance leads; in Italy, Outbrain is one of our main lead gen channels. Block placements with a form-start rate below 5% on either one.

Can I run the same campaign on both?

Yes, and it's what we recommend once one is profitable. Use the same funnel, but adapt headlines to each platform's rules and track each source separately.

Want to run Taboola and Outbrain profitably?

We are an official partner of Taboola and Outbrain and manage native campaigns for DTC, e-commerce and lead gen brands worldwide. See how we work on our Taboola partner page and Outbrain agency page, or book a free strategy call.