There are seemingly endless choices for advertising your business online. Where should your business focus its energy? With the average marketing spend sitting at around 7.7% of a business’s revenue, it’s important to allocate that money wisely. Understanding the full spectrum of your options with online advertising platforms is an essential first step in devising an effective plan.
If you’re overwhelmed by the world of digital advertising, this primer is a great place to start. Read on for a rundown of online advertising platforms, understand how they fit together in the broader ecosystem, and discover some of the best places to advertise online.
Contents
- Search engine advertising platforms
- Social media advertising platforms
- Programmatic advertising platforms
- Ad network and exchange platforms
- Online video advertising platforms
- Native advertising platforms
- Retail media network platforms
- Audio online advertising platforms
- Affiliate and partner network platforms
- Influencer marketing platforms
- Mobile app advertising platforms
- Sponsored email advertising platforms
- Digital out-of-home advertising platforms
- Marketplace and classifieds advertising platforms
- Gaming and in-game advertising platforms
- Connected TV and over-the-top advertising platforms
Search engine marketing (SEM) advertising platforms
Let’s start our list with the category that consistently dominates digital marketing: search. In 2025, it represented 38.8% of all digital advertising efforts. And it’s no surprise search engine marketing continues to lead all other online channels.
There are about 14.6 billion Google searches each day. If you’re a brand trying to get in front of new consumers, there are worse places you could try to meet them. Traditional search engine marketing platforms include names you already know, such as:
- Google Ads
- Google Local Services Ads (LSAs) are specifically for service-based businesses
- Microsoft Advertising (Bing Ads)
- Yahoo Ads
- Yelp Ads (this one straddles the world of search and directories)
Beyond the world of traditional search, AI tools are emerging as a new place to advertise online. While not traditional search engine marketing, LLMs like ChatGPT are incorporating ads into chat outputs on their platforms. While LLMs account for only around 5% of searches now, consumer behavior is changing rapidly, and many anticipate that AI chatbots will eat into traditional search in the coming years. This is certainly a space for forward-thinking marketers to watch!
A ChatGPT query about marketing ends with the platform serving up an ad for an AI marketing platform.
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Social media advertising platforms
In 2025, social media represented the second-largest category for online media spending, with the total reaching $96.5 billion. It continues to explode, with spending on social coming in second among all media types (offline and online).
Where and how you advertise on social media will depend on the business you run. Some platforms are naturally suited to certain brands—for example, LinkedIn is a go-to for all things B2B, whereas TikTok is best for consumer brands targeting younger demographics. As you consider your options, think about these social media platforms:
- Meta, which encompasses Facebook, Instagram, and Threads
- X (formerly Twitter)
- TikTok
- Snapchat
- Quora
Social media offers powerful targeting options for local businesses.
Programmatic advertising platforms
Have you ever seen branded content embedded on a third-party website? Maybe a banner ad sits in the middle of your newspaper article. Or perhaps it’s a video that plays ahead of the news story you want to watch.
Regardless of the content type, these ads were likely placed on the blog or digital news site via a programmatic platform. Programmatic platforms automate the process of bidding on ad space across a range of third-party sites.
This travel-related banner ad is running alongside a news story about bakeries to visit in Stockholm.
Demand-side platforms, or DSPs, are the tools that manage a lot of programmatic advertising. DSPs handle the automated bidding and afford you the ability to target by audience and optimize your campaigns dynamically.
If you’re exploring the world of programmatic advertising, these are major platforms for content distribution, many of which are DSPs:
- Google Display Network (GDN)
- Display & Video 360 (DV360)
- The Trade Desk
- Amazon DSP
- Infillion MediaMath
- StackAdapt
- AdRoll
- Criteo
- Quantcast
- Adform
- Basis Technologies (formerly Centro)
- Simpli.fi
Ad network and exchange platforms
Closely related to programmatic and sitting in the middle of the online advertising ecosystem are ad networks and exchanges. Both provide businesses access to placement for their advertising, but they do it in slightly different ways.
Ad networks aggregate ad inventory from across multiple websites and apps, then offer the package to advertisers. While some targeting is possible, it’s less precise than with other options.
If you want more granular targeting, ad exchanges might be a better fit. They are real-time marketplaces where ad impressions are bought and sold individually through auctions. Most advertisers don’t buy directly from ad exchanges. Instead, they rely on DSPs to run bidding automatically and integrate customer data and optimization. However, it’s helpful to know the players in the ad exchange and network space, particularly if you want to sell advertising space on your own site.
Platforms to know include:
- Google AdSense
- PubMatic
- Index Exchange
- Magnite
- Amazon Publisher Services
- OpenX
- Xandr (formerly AppNexus)
- ConnectAd
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Online video advertising platforms
Online video is taking up a lot of our collective attention. Google reports that over 1 billion hours of video are consumed on its platform every day. And marketers’ investment in video advertising continues to grow year-over-year, with the medium generating a collective $78.0 billion in revenue in 2025.
Video ads continue to be popular with marketers.
Because of video’s expansive reach, it overlaps with some of the other best places to advertise online. For example, TikTok is first and foremost a social media platform, but it’s also one that’s deeply committed to sharing video content. That’s why it earns a spot on both the social media and video advertising platform lists alongside these other major players:
- YouTube Ads
- TikTok Ads (video placements)
- Vimeo Ads
- Hulu Ads
- Roku Ads
- Peacock Ads
- Twitch
Native advertising platforms
Unlike some other advertising strategies, which seek to stand out, native advertising is all about blending in (albeit strategically). These ads, sometimes called branded content, appear on sites like digital news and magazine outlets, and they’re designed to look like they’re part of the editorial content. If you’ve ever clicked on what you thought was a newspaper article and seen text upfront saying it’s sponsored by a brand, that’s native advertising.
Tucked alongside the real New York Times stories is a paid post from the Hungarian tourism board.
There are several platforms that enable brands to distribute ads across publishers and match the formatting of their story to each site’s layout. They also track results and optimize placement behind the scenes to help boost your ROI. Some of the native advertising platforms to explore include:
- Taboola
- Outbrain
- Revcontent
- MGID
- USA TODAY Network branded content
- Yahoo Native
Retail media network (RMNs) platforms
If you already sell somewhere online, you should know about retail media networks (RMNs). These online advertising platforms are run by third-party selling sites and allow brands to pay to promote their products. If you’ve ever seen a sponsored result when shopping on Amazon, you’ve encountered this type of advertising before.
The Swissdigital Design backpacks at the top of these search results are sponsored placements.
Many online shopping platforms offer an advertising component, but these are some major players to keep in mind as you build out your online business:
- Amazon Ads
- Walmart Connect
- Target Roundel
- Instacart Ads
- Kroger Precision Marketing
- eBay Ads
Audio online advertising platforms
In recent years, there’s been a major shift from purchasing audio content, like music and audiobooks, to paying for subscriptions to stream it. Today, 73% of people around the globe listen to streaming music, and more than half of US adults report listening to a podcast in the past 12 months.
If you want to capture your audience’s attention right between their ears, consider audio advertising via one of these popular platforms:
- Spotify Ads
- Pandora Ads
- iHeartRadio Ads
- SiriusXM Ads
- SoundCloud Ads
Affiliate and partner network platforms
Drumming up sales all on your own is hard work. Tapping into affiliate and partner networks allows you to pass some of the heavy lifting off to outsiders who can promote your brand. If you’ve ever seen a blog post featuring product recommendations and a disclaimer about how the blog receives a commission from the brand, the author or publisher is part of an affiliate marketing program.
Affiliate and partner networks connect brands with third parties, like publishers, influencers, media companies, or other creators. The third parties promote your brand, sharing an affiliate link with their followers or readers. When people make a purchase via the affiliate link, you get the sale, and the partner gets a commission. These are some trusted names in the affiliate marketing space:
- CJ Affiliate (Commission Junction)
- ShareASale
- LTK
- Rakuten Advertising
- Impact.com
- Awin
- ClickBank
Influencer marketing platforms
A close cousin of affiliate marketing, influencer marketing has gained popularity in recent years. Enabled by social media, influencers carve out a niche for themselves and build a following of loyal fans. As the influencer’s network grows, brands can reach out to propose a partnership: the influencer promotes the brand’s products or services for a payment (often as a free product, a fee, or commission).
Influencer marketing has proven to be a wildly effective tactic, and smaller influencers may work with smaller brands for a reasonable fee. To connect with influencers that make sense for your business, you might try these online advertising platforms:
- Aspire
- Upfluence
- CreatorIQ
- Grin
- Traackr
Mobile app advertising platforms
The average smartphone user has over 80 apps installed on their device. From games to food delivery to e-commerce platforms, there are apps for just about every purpose and created by many brands.
Whether you want to create an app for your own business or simply advertise in other people’s apps, these mobile app advertising platforms can help you do it:
- Apple Search Ads
- Google App Campaigns
- Unity Ads
- ironSource
- AppLovin
Sponsored email advertising platforms
We’ve all seen the statistics on the effectiveness of email marketing. No matter how much the rest of online advertising evolves, email remains a highly effective way to reach your customers and drive engagement.
It’s worthwhile to start your own email marketing program to send messages to customers and prospects directly. But you can also lean into sponsored email advertising as another tactic.
By running ads in popular newsletters or other regular email content, you can get your brand name out to a whole new audience. While you can reach out directly to newsletters on your own, these platforms make it easier to identify the right target audience and get your content placed in emails:
- LiveIntent
- Jeeng
- Newsletter sponsorship platforms (e.g., Paved)
Digital out-of-home (DOOH) platforms
Out-of-home (OOH) advertising is a tactic that started out analog, with options like physical billboards and transit ads. Today, however, you can take these advertising tactics digital, incorporating moving images onto digital screens scattered throughout the environment. To buy placement on DOOH screens, you can speak to a partner like:
- Vistar Media
- PlaceExchange
- Broadsign
- Perion
Marketplace and classifieds advertising platforms
People turn to online marketplaces and classifieds to meet many needs. Whether they’re looking for a vintage desk on Craigslist or the best local donut shop on Nextdoor, chances are there’s someone on the platform who can point them toward what they want.
Brands can connect with these high-intent searchers by running ads on these marketplaces and classifieds platforms. By targeting the ad for your donut shop at someone who’s in your area and looking for a sweet treat, you have a better chance of converting that sale. Try these online advertising platforms to reach your neighbors when they’re seeking what you sell:
- Craigslist Ads
- eBay Promoted Listings
- Etsy Ads
- Facebook Marketplace Ads
- Nextdoor
The first three listings on this eBay search are sponsored results.
Gaming and in-game advertising platforms
Did you know that 43% of American adults report playing video games? If you thought it was just for teens, the stats would challenge you on that. (Though video games are hugely popular with teens, especially boys—90% say they play games online.)
Regardless of what audience you’re trying to reach, advertising within popular games can be a great way to connect with them. You may choose to advertise with a popular game directly or use an online advertising platform to pair your ads with the right gaming platform; consider these partners:
- Roblox Ads
- Fortnite Creative Ads
- AdColony
- Bidstack/Digital Turbine
Connected TV (CTV) and over-the-top (OTT) platforms
Connected TVs are everywhere these days. They’re the devices that stream digital content to a television. If you have a smart TV, you have one of these in your home. When you run ads within this streaming content, that’s called over-the-top (OTT) advertising, which means it’s playing on video content that’s coming to your device via streaming, rather than satellite or cable.
If you want to run ads for your business on streaming content, you need to connect with an advertising platform, which may be affiliated with the device itself (like a Roku television) or with the platform (like Hulu). Your options include:
- Roku Ads
- Hulu Ads
- Amazon Fire TV Ads
- Samsung Ads
- YouTube TV Ads
- Netflix
- Amazon Prime
Finding the best online advertising platforms for your business
As with most decisions you make for your business, there is no one-size-fits-all “best” online advertising platform. To find success in digital marketing, it’s essential that you understand the full breadth of your options, then find platforms and solutions that fit your budget and needs.
Taking the time to explore different tactics and service providers can help you uncover the strategy that’s suited to your business model and growth goals.
And when you’d like someone in your corner to make the most of these opportunities, reach out, and we’ll show you how our digital marketing solutions can help.
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