Teads

Teads is a global media platform best known for pioneering outstream video advertising, video ads that play inside the body of an article rather than before a video the user chose to watch. Founded in 2011 and now part of Outbrain, Teads partners with premium publishers to monetize editorial pages with video, display, and native formats.

How it works#

Unlike pre-roll, an outstream Teads unit appears within or between paragraphs of an article, expanding and auto-playing (usually muted) when it scrolls into view, then collapsing afterward. This lets publishers without their own video content still run video advertising, and it gives advertisers viewable, brand-safe inventory on quality sites. Teads sells inventory both directly and programmatically, with viewability and completion as core performance metrics.

Why it matters#

Teads sits at the higher-quality, brand-advertising end of the spectrum, distinct from the click-driven content-recommendation networks. Its 2024 merger with Outbrain combined Teads' premium video supply with Outbrain's content-discovery reach, creating one of the larger open-web advertising platforms. For competitive intelligence, monitoring Teads placements shows how brand advertisers, not just direct-response affiliates, are using the open web for video.

Related terms: Outbrain, Outstream Video, and Native Ad Network.