Set a clear campaign goal
Taboola connects advertisers with people reading publisher content. A familiar native unit pairs an image and headline with your brand, then sends the reader to your landing page. The advertising platform is now called Realize.
- Define one outcome. Decide whether this campaign should generate a lead, purchase or useful website visit.
- Prepare the click. Match the headline and image to a page that delivers the promised information.
- Measure the result. Set up the relevant conversion event before spending.
- Build a small creative set. Test different angles for the same offer, then review results by creative and placement.
Use the creative checker for your first asset and the launch brief to organize your decisions. If you are still choosing a traffic source, start with our native ad network comparison.
Checked 12 October 2026. Realize platform update.
Prepare your account and landing page
Start with the business and destination you want to promote. Have your account contact, billing details, target market, landing page URL and brand name ready. The same brand should make sense in the ad, on the page and in the offer.
| Prepare | What good looks like |
|---|---|
| Landing page | Loads on mobile, explains the offer and has one clear next action. |
| Conversion goal | A named action such as a submitted lead or completed purchase. |
| Creative set | Several headlines and images built around the same offer. |
| Budget plan | Daily amount, test period and campaign spending limit. |
| Measurement | Tracking installed, event tested and URL parameters preserved. |
A useful first review is simple: click your own page on a phone, complete the intended action, and check what happens next. Fix missing information and broken steps before turning that journey into paid traffic.
Give each budget number a clear job
Separate money added to the account from money allocated to a campaign. A billing threshold also serves a different purpose: it determines when a card is charged.
| Term | Meaning | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Funding or prepayment | Money available through the account's billing arrangement. | Keeping the account funded. |
| Daily budget | The campaign's daily spending plan and pacing control. | Allocating the test across days. |
| Lifetime spending limit | The total spending limit for this campaign. | Setting the campaign's overall allocation. |
| Billing increment | Automatic billing commonly charges in $100 increments. | Understanding card charges. |
| Suggested test budget | A planning recommendation based on the campaign goal. | Allowing room to collect useful results. |
Realize's budget guide recommends 10 times your CPA goal or at least $50 per campaign per day. This is guidance for campaign planning. Confirm your account’s funding condition when choosing the billing route.
Plan your total as daily budget × test days, then set the appropriate lifetime or monthly limit in Realize. Daily delivery can vary: the official guide says the daily cap can reach up to twice the set amount in some cases. Use the campaign spending limit when the total allocation matters.
Automatic card billing, approved monthly invoices and prepayment have different account conditions. Pick the billing route available to your account, and keep the planned media spend separate from any payment fees.
Checked 12 October 2026. Budget and pacing and payment schedules, both dated 23 July 2026.
Check your creative
Make the image, headline and landing page tell the same story. Use one clear visual subject, keep the main message early in the headline, and inspect crops before submitting.
| Field | Recommended | Limit or accepted format |
|---|---|---|
| Image dimensions | 1200 × 674 px | Minimum 400 × 350 px |
| Aspect ratio | 16:9 | 16:9, 4:3 or 1:1 |
| Image file | JPEG | Up to 5 MB; JPEG, BMP, PNG, WBMP or GIF |
| Headline | 34–45 characters | 60 characters maximum |
| Branding | Your recognizable brand name | 30 characters maximum |
| Description | 180–200 characters, when used | 250 characters maximum |
The checker below covers static Native image preparation. Motion and carousel have separate requirements. After preparing the file, use Realize's own preview and cropping controls to keep the subject visible across placements.
Checked 12 October 2026. Official creative specifications, dated 31 August 2026.
See three creative examples
Set up targeting and your campaign
Use the official Realize signup to create your account. The self-service wizard uses your marketing information, budget and intended audience to prepare a campaign. Existing advertisers can start from Campaigns → +New → Campaign, as described in the current public setup guide.
Choose the account country carefully: Realize says it determines the account currency, which cannot be changed on that account. Have the business contact, billing route and destination page ready before moving through setup.
- Choose the objective. Connect the campaign goal to the action your page is designed to produce.
- Name the campaign. Include the market, offer and device or audience distinction that you will want to compare later.
- Set targeting and schedule. Choose the intended country, supported targeting options, devices, start date and end date.
- Set budget and bidding. Enter your daily plan, spending limit and the bidding strategy available for your goal.
- Add the ads. Enter the destination URL, headline and branding, upload the creative, and review placement previews.
- Check tracking and submit. Confirm the conversion setup and final click path, then submit the campaign for review.
Keep your first campaign easy to read. If countries, offers or objectives differ substantially, give them distinct campaign names and reporting views. Review the results against the original goal before adding more variables.
Checked 12 October 2026. Realize introduction and campaign creation, dated 23 July 2026; account currency, dated 8 July 2026.
Choose the bidding approach for your goal
The daily budget controls your planned spend; the bidding strategy controls how you compete for available placements. Realize recommends Maximize Conversions for conversion-led campaigns. Its other documented choices give you more direct control over CPC.
| Strategy | How it works | Prepare |
|---|---|---|
| Maximize Conversions | Automatically adjusts CPC to pursue conversions within the budget; an optional target CPA is available. | A defined conversion and working tracking. |
| Enhanced CPC | Adjusts your baseline CPC according to the auction opportunity. | A baseline bid and time to review results. |
| Fixed Bid | Keeps the CPC you set until you change it. | A clear reason for that click price and manual review. |
For Maximize Conversions or Enhanced CPC, connect the Pixel or S2S tracking so the platform can use conversion signals. Choose a bid around the value of the action you want, then assess the resulting acquisition cost.
Checked 12 October 2026. Official bidding strategy guide, dated 23 July 2026.
Prepare the ad and page for review
Submitted campaign items enter review before they run. Realize checks the headline, image, branding, destination URL and landing page, including third-party ads on that page. A campaign can be fully running, partially running or rejected, so check both the campaign and individual ad status.
Give the landing page company and contact details, a privacy-policy link and an advertorial disclosure where appropriate. Check that links work and lead to the promised information. Keep claims and statistics supported by their sources, and use images and text that match the offer.
If an item needs changes, use the stated rejection reason to revise the ad or destination, then resubmit. Plan the start date with time to make those changes.
Checked 12 October 2026. Campaign review process, dated 26 May 2025; landing-page and content checklist, dated 27 April 2025; campaign and ad statuses, dated 23 July 2026.
Verify your conversion tracking
The base Taboola Pixel identifies activity on your site. Conversion rules connect that activity to the result you want, such as a lead or purchase. Set up both parts.
Realize provides routes for GTM, Shopify, WordPress, WooCommerce and manual installation. S2S can suit conversions recorded elsewhere in the funnel. Choose the integration that matches your site and where the final action happens.
- Install the base tracking through the relevant funnel pages.
- Create the primary conversion and include value where appropriate.
- Complete a test action and inspect it with the Tracking Test Tool or Pixel Helper.
- Check the ad URL, redirects and final landing URL retain the needed parameters.
- Confirm the platform receives the intended event before judging campaign performance.
A page view and a purchase answer different questions. Name your events clearly so a successful page load is not mistaken for the business outcome.
Checked 12 October 2026. Realize tracking setup and verification, dated 23 July 2026.
Build your launch brief
Research a specific question: which message, image or landing-page structure should you test for this offer in this market? Record the angle, intended reader and page promise. Turn each observation into a testable idea rather than a copied ad.
For occasional inspiration, start with official creative trends and a focused manual review. For repeated filtering, landing-page research or monitoring, compare native ad spy tools by the network and task you need. Our AdPlexity Native review explains that product in more detail.
Complete the form to produce a brief you can save and use while setting up the campaign.
Your campaign brief will appear here.
Common questions before launch
Are Taboola and Realize different networks?
Realize is Taboola's advertising platform. Use the current Realize account flow when creating and managing campaigns.
Do I need $5,000 to start?
Treat that figure as a possible test-plan recommendation, not a universal platform minimum. Your plan should reflect the outcome, test period and account billing conditions. The official daily-budget guidance is explained above.
Should I buy a spy tool before opening an account?
Buy one when its network coverage and research workflow solve a repeated task for you. You can prepare your first campaign with the platform's resources and manual research.
What should I review after launch?
Start with the intended conversion, then compare creative, placement and device results. Use those observations to decide what to adjust in the next test.
Research checked 12 October 2026. See how we research tools and platforms.
Page updates
- : Published the Realize preparation guide, budget definitions, creative checker and downloadable launch brief.
- : Reworked the guide into numbered steps with a sidebar contents list and a dedicated campaign-planning illustration.