Vertical Stories combines the familiar swipe experience of social media with the proven effectiveness of advertising in news media. The new advertising format allows advertisers to display vertical videos and images within an editorial environment on homepages and article pages. Mediahuis tested, refined and optimised the format together with leading social-first brands such as bol, TUI and MediaMarkt.
With Vertical Stories, Mediahuis Nederland is introducing a new advertising format that responds to the growing popularity of vertical media. The product offers the familiar interface of social stories, allowing users to swipe through one or more videos and images at their own pace. Initial results show high engagement between the different story panels, as well as a strong willingness among users to click through to advertiser destinations.
The launch of Vertical Stories builds on the proven effectiveness of advertising in a news environment. The latest research by research agency MSI-ACI shows that advertising messages within news media are retained significantly better than those on social media. The impact on brand recall was measured at an index of 128. For the image attributes examined, the index rises to 148.
Advertising within news media therefore contributes more strongly to brand attributes such as trustworthiness, expertise and likeability. Vertical Stories combines this proven effectiveness with the way consumers use vertical media today.
The format allows advertisers to distribute different types of social stories within the editorial environment of Mediahuis. Users can navigate independently between the different story panels. It is also possible to add a CTA button, allowing advertisers to direct users straight to a specific destination.
Since 1 November, Vertical Stories has been available to advertisers across the Netherlands. The first performance results and benchmarks for Vertical Stories across Mediahuis titles are expected in January 2027.
