Made for Advertising (MFA) sites have exploded in popularity over the last few years, offering advertisers easy access to highly viewable, cost-efficient inventory across the web. As MFA usage grew, misconceptions and misunderstandings emerged, causing concerns among advertisers.
That’s where context — and data — can help. As advertisers continue to search for the most brand-safe and affordable placements, it’s important to understand why MFA sites emerged and how the industry is responding to them. Taboola, for example, launched an MFA-free inventory package, Taboola Select, to help advertisers enhance performance results.
So, if you’ve been looking for an honest, data-backed rundown of the evolution — and ongoing impact — of MFAs, look no further.
Here’s what you need to know.
How MFA Sites Came to Be and Why
MFA sites didn’t come out of nowhere. They were created in response to blatant market demand. We unpacked this MFA phenomenon in a recent Advertising Week panel with Chris Kane, Founder and President of Jounce Media, an industry leader in programmatic supply chain management and a Taboola partner.“The publishing world has been told for the last decade that marketers need brand-safe content, high viewability, high video completion rates, and low prices,” Kane said. “And that is what these ad arbitrage publishers created. They got the homework assignment and they get an A+.”
Given their business model, it’s no surprise that these sites saw lightning-fast growth.
“They run ads to promote clickbait-y content, drive traffic to their website, and try to generate more advertising revenue on the resulting page view than the cost of acquiring that traffic,” Kane said. “If you do that over and over again, you’re able to grow really rapidly.”
Jounce Media, for example, reported astronomical growth among these sites in 2020. By July 2023, 30% of web auctions led to MFA supply.
Then the industry started raising some concerns…
Why Advertisers Are Concerned About MFAs
In just the past year, MFA sites have come under scrutiny. Most notably, because they weren’t contributing to the business objectives of certain advertisers — namely, those seeking performance results.
As Kane put it: “[Publishers] were then told, ‘No that’s not an A+, that’s an F.’” By November 2024, Jounce Media found that only 5% of web auctions led to MFA supply — a huge drop from the previous year.
Yes, MFA sites may not be built to drive performance results. However, it’s important to understand that MFA sites still serve a purpose: They can be incredibly effective at helping advertisers meet certain upper-funnel KPIs at efficient costs.
How the Industry Is Addressing MFAs
Data is crucial to understanding the impact of MFAs and how they can still play a part in the ad landscape going forward.
That’s why Jounce Media is at the forefront of providing MFA-detection technology and data to help improve trust and transparency in the marketplace. For example, Jounce broke down why Facebook is actually “the lifeblood of MFAs.” Because 90% of the money that the MFA publisher earns goes back to its traffic supplier. And who’s their largest traffic supplier? Facebook.
“This money is not going to publishers or content creators,” Kane said. “It’s going to Facebook to fuel this arbitrage opportunity.”
Data is just the start, however. Ad platforms have to use this data to spark ongoing conversions with advertisers, so they can understand what they’re buying and stay on track towards their goals.
“We have to ask advertisers, ‘What do you want to deliver and as a publisher how can we create those experiences to generate that?’ said Vince Meyer, Global Head of Data and Strategic Partnerships at Taboola. “That’s how trust is going to be built.”
Taboola Select: Delivering Quality Inventory Solutions
In the wake of this MFA boom, Taboola is listening to advertiser concerns and actively working with Jounce Media to create a solution that allows brands to maintain reach and scale across premium publisher sites — without having to worry about being placed on MFA sites.
The result of this effort is a brand-new offering, Taboola Select: a curated selection of the most premium editorial inventory on the internet from publishers including Associated Press, Business Insider, Yahoo, and more. Most notably, Taboola Select is free from MFA properties, as verified and ensured by Jounce Media’s MFA-detection technology and data.
In an ad landscape filled with MFAs, Taboola Select is designed to help advertisers ensure brand suitability and reach their performance goals. This curated package also includes exclusive access to the Feature Placement on those premium publisher sites for high visibility and engagement.
At Taboola, we know that advertisers deserve access to inventory that helps them meet their KPIs. We’re proud to continue providing this access, and helping advertisers find prominent ad placements they can’t get anywhere else.
