With social media gaining more traction in recent years, many media buyers have made the mistake of overlooking native to search arbitrage. This model offers a stable, scalable, and often less saturated alternative.
In this guide, we’ll break down exactly how native to search arbitrage works in 2025 and how to get started the right way.
What Is Native to Search Arbitrage?
We’ve already done a deep dive into traffic arbitrage before, but if you are unfamiliar with the concept, it refers to the process of buying traffic at lower prices than you sell it, making a profit from the difference.
With native to search arbitrage, media buyers buy traffic from native ad platforms (Taboola, Outbrain, NewsBreak) and send that traffic to a monetized page. The end goal is to make a profit from the difference between what you pay for a click (CPC) and what you earn per each visitor (EPC).
How Does Native to Search Arbitrage Work?
With the native to search arbitrage model, you run native ads with attention-grabbing headlines and creatives on native advertising platforms.
When users click on one of your ads, they land on a monetized page. We will discuss the different types of search arbitrage models in detail later on, but the monetized page will usually look like a search engine result page, or like a blog article with an embedded keyword block.
This page is populated with sponsored search results powered by search feed partners (Tonic, Ads.com, System1).
If the user clicks on one of these sponsored ads, you get paid from the feed provider for the click.
At the end of the day, if your earnings per click (EPC) are higher than your native ads cost per click (CPC), you make a profit.
Profit Margins for Native to Search Arbitrage
As explained above, your key to making money with the native to search arbitrage model is to buy traffic for cheaper than you sell it. You may be wondering, what are the profit margins for this model? While there is no official data on this, the profit margins are generally low.
This will obviously differ based on many factors, including your agreement with the search feed, traffic cost based on your native ad platform, ad skills, and so on. However, in general you can expect a profit margin of a few cents per click, or a 10-25% margin.
By understanding how the business works, choosing the right ad and search feed platforms, and using the right tracking and optimization tools, you can increase your profit margin further. But even in that case, the profitability of native to search arbitrage lies in the numbers. The more you invest, the higher your income becomes. While there is no hard limit for your starting budget, you need to invest about $300-1,000+ a day on ads for this to even be worth it.
Why Native to Search Arbitrage Works in 2025
The search arbitrage model has been profitable for years, but in recent years, more and more media buyers have made social media ads their main focus, with Meta and TikTok becoming the go-to ad platforms.
That already poses an advantage, because while everyone is running social ads, the native ads space has become less saturated.
There have also been several studies highlighting the benefits of native over social to search arbitrage. For example, a study done by Lumen and Outbrain showed that native ads are 31% more trustworthy than social media ads. They also lead to 16% more clicks, and 18% more purchases. This is because native ads blend in perfectly with the content of the page they are featured on, making them appear more relevant and trustworthy.
Another benefit is that if you are compliant and skilled in native ads, you will face fewer bans than you would if you’re advertising on social channels.
How to Set Up a Native to Search Arbitrage Campaign
So, what are the key steps to get started with your first native to search arbitrage campaigns?
Sourcing High-Quality Native Traffic
First, you need to find the best native ads platforms. You should be looking for a reputable platform with high-quality traffic, and in the meantime keep in mind traffic cost. You should strike for a good balance between good quality traffic and reasonable cost per click.
In the next section, we will discuss the top native ad platforms for search arbitrage in more detail. But, if you need another “trick” on how to find which native ad platforms are performing well, you can use a native ad spy tool like Adplexity.
Here, you can filter on the vertical you’re running (e.g., “dental care”) and see which platforms have the most successful ads. To get the best results, you can play with the filters. For example, you can filter on “days running” so that you get ads that have been running the longest, select the language, filter on “most seen” ads, search specific keywords and more.
Monetizing With Search Feeds
Next, you need to get access to search feeds. If you are familiar with the search arbitrage space, you may have heard that this is the trickiest part, because many search feeds are strict with their approval process.
Most feed providers need some sort of financial proof to get started with search arbitrage. If you are coming from a different vertical (such as affiliate, lead gen, ecom) you can show proof of how much you were spending on ads before. Ad platforms such as Taboola also do introductions if you are spending a good amount of money advertising on their platform.
Otherwise, just provide any documents that prove you have a registered company and a good starting capital available.
Most search feeds have an online application form. However, the best way to get approval is to attend industry conferences, such as Affiliate World, and meet search feed representatives face-to-face.
If you are truly a beginner with no financial proof, you can try working as a media buying freelancer for another company that does search arbitrage to gain connections and experience.
Tracking and Optimization
Once you have secured search feed approval and you have a few good native advertising platforms you are ready to start testing, you need to start thinking about tracking and optimization.
As mentioned before, search arbitrage is a numbers game, so the earlier you start optimizing, the higher your profits will be.
In later sections, we will discuss specific tips on how to properly track and optimize your native to search campaigns.
Best Native Traffic Sources for Search Arbitrage in 2025
Here are some of the most well-known native ad platforms for search arbitrage in 2025:
Taboola
Taboola is one of the largest native ad platforms in the world, with 1.4 billion unique visitors per month across premium publishers, including CNN, Daily Mail, MSN, Business Insider, and more. This gives you access to higher traffic volumes, with a big portion coming from Tier 1 countries, which is crucial for scaling.
Taboola has been proven to perform well with both AFD and RSOC arbitrage models. We mentioned before that feed providers prioritize high-quality traffic, and Taboola is one of the native ad platforms with the highest quality score. This leads to higher revenue per thousand clicks (RPMs) and less compliance issues.
Another benefit of going with such a large native ad network is that its algorithm is more advanced than smaller, more niche platforms.
If you are spending a good amount of money on ads (e.g., $100-300/day), you can get a dedicated account manager who can also facilitate introductions with search feed providers.
Due to its premium status, Taboola is strict about compliance regarding creatives and landers.
Outbrain
Outbrain is another market leader in the native advertising space. Similar to Taboola, they have a large user base with around 1 billion monthly visitors from across more than 50 countries.
Outbrain also partners with premium publishers, including CNN, MSN, and The Washington Post.
Similar to Taboola, Outbrain also has a strong algorithm for better targeting and optimization. Most media buyers who are just getting started with native to search arbitrage choose either Outbrain or Taboola.
NewsBreak
Media buyers who already have cracked the code on Taboola and Outbrain tend to look for new, smaller or niche native ad platforms that are less saturated and can perform better if you have a competitive advantage.
In the past 1-2 years, NewsBreak became the next go-to for search arbitrage offers, with several players spending big numbers on the platform. NewsBreak is the leading local news app in the US, partnering with thousands of high-quality publishers, creators and small businesses and reaching more than 40 million monthly active users.
Based on the last available data, it costs about $4 for 1,000 impressions on NewsBreak (compared to the average of $5-$10 on other native ads platforms).
RevContent
RevContent is another smaller native ad platform, primarily partnering with US publishers. This means that the majority of the traffic comes from Tier 1, English-speaking countries (e.g., US, UK, Canada, Australia). They also have some Tier 2 and Tier 3 traffic, but in smaller amounts.
MGID
MGID is another native ad platform that’s been around since 2008. According to their website, you can reach more than 900 million monthly users, mostly from Tier 2 countries, especially South-East Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe. In general, this type of traffic is cheaper (lower CPCs).
Just like the other platforms, MGID also partners with top-quality publishers and they provide a variety of ad formats and even new AI features that help you create ads faster.
Choosing the Right Traffic Source
Choosing the right traffic source obviously depends on your business needs. For example, if you want to primarily target Tier 1 countries, you might want to focus on platforms like NewsBreak, Taboola or Outbrain. However, for most media buyers getting started with native, Taboola or Outbrain are the easiest choice.
They are both large, established platforms, which means you will get access to higher traffic volumes and smarter algorithms.
Keep in mind that how much you spend on ads on a platform matters. The more you spend on a platform, the more likely you are to get better support from them (including a dedicated account manager, introductions to search feeds, best practices, etc). This is why we usually recommend starting with one native ad platform and growing with them, before expanding on to the next.
Best Search Feed Providers in 2025
AFD vs RSOC Search Arbitrage
Before getting started with the different search feed providers, it’s important to first make the distinction between the two different types of search arbitrage.
AFD (AdSense for Domains) is the classic search arbitrage model. You usually send the users to a parked domain that is fully empty apart from the keyword block.
With Google becoming stricter about compliance and user experience, the new RSOC (Related Search for Content) model started gaining traction. In 2025, RSOC is fully dominating the market and it looks like it will continue to do so for the time being.
Ads.com
Ads.com is a major player in the search arbitrage industry, with over 15 years of experience. They also have both AFD and RSOC feeds, but they usually require strong financial proof before granting users access to their feed.
Sedo
Sedo is also a well-known provider that was first known for their AFD solution. They have recently introduced their RSOC feed, which you can apply for through their site.
Tonic
Tonic is one of the biggest search feed providers, operating out of Germany. They offer both AFD and RSOC solutions, but because they are so in demand, getting approved can be difficult.
Inuvo
Inuvo is also a reputable provider within the RSOC space. Similar to the other feeds, you can apply for an account online.
System1
System1 is another top-tier feed provider with both AFD and RSOC solutions available. They have a large amount of offers from across booming verticals (e.g., finance and health). You can get in touch with them through their website.
ExplorAds
ExplorAds was very quick to jump on the RSOC train back in 2021. They are still known as one of the main RSOC providers, and you can apply for an account online.
AirFind
AirFind is another RSOC provider. While they don’t have an application form online, you can get in touch with them via their website.
Google AdSense
You don’t need to have a search feed provider to run RSOC campaigns. If you have a website, you can get started with RSOC directly with Google AdSense. They allow you to show a monetized keyword block on your page. You first need to meet certain requirements (for example, get an AdSense for Search contract, stay compliant, etc). You can learn more about this from Google’s Related Search for Content page.
Choosing the Right Search Feed Provider
Just like with the native ad platforms, choosing the right search feed provider also depends on your needs. Generally, we recommend applying to several feeds and using any personal contacts you have in the industry to get an introduction. That’s because approval can take a while.
However, when it comes to scaling, it makes sense to scale with one or two feeds at first. That’s because the more money you are making for a certain provider, the higher your negotiating power is to demand higher RPMs.
Tracking and Optimization for Native to Search Arbitrage
Recommended Tools for Tracking and Automation
As we mentioned multiple times in this article, search arbitrage is all about scaling. The only way you can succeed and reach desirable profit margins is if you run your operation at a large scale.
In order to scale properly, you need the right tools. Without these tools, it is essentially impossible to reach sustainable success in this industry. Many tools are available to help you with every step of the process, but the two essentials you need are tracking and optimization.
For tracking, ClickFlare is one of the leading ad trackers for search arbitrage. It has direct API integrations with all the top native ad platforms and search feeds. These direct integrations allow media buyers to get automatic conversion, revenue and cost data, updated every hour. ClickFlare collects first-party data, which means that it’s not limited by ad blockers or cookie limitations, ensuring your data is 100% correct.
Once you have a good tracking setup and you are starting to scale your business, the next step is campaign automation. The most successful media buyers out there are not working harder than you, they’re just working smarter.
TheOptimizer is the go-to automation software for native to search arbitrage. You can easily sync all of ClickFlare’s data and manage all your campaigns from a single place. You can create automation rules to protect your budget and scale (such as pausing unprofitable publishers, increasing budgets for top-performing ads and so on). You can also manage all your creatives and launch campaigns with ease (including a mass launcher with which you can launch hundreds of campaigns at once).
Campaign Optimization and Scaling Tips
There are a few strategies to optimize and scale your native to search arbitrage campaigns further using ClickFlare and TheOptimizer.
An important aspect is keyword optimization. The more you can optimize your keyword block, the higher the chance is that someone will click on it and eventually generate money.
Researching keywords with tools like Google Ads Keyword Planner or Ubersuggest, Ahrefs, etc is a great starting point, but the real game-changer is being able to easily test keywords. With ClickFlare’s keyword builder, you can do this very easily.
Once you select your search feed, you just need to type in your keywords. ClickFlare will automatically format them according to your feed’s guidelines. You also do not have to change your offer link. The keywords will be automatically appended by ClickFlare.
A great benefit of using this keyword builder is that it allows you to split-test different keyword sets within the same offer. In the example above, each set will receive 50% of the traffic.
Afterwards, you can see inside ClickFlare’s reports which set performed better.
If you want to drill down further into the data and find out which specific keyword in the keyword set got more clicks, you can see that on ClickFlare:
Apart from optimizing keywords, another strategy used by search arbitrage media buyers is split-testing different search feeds inside the same campaign. For example, let’s say you have a “dental implants” offer from both Tonic and Ads.com. You want to see which one performs better, so you create a campaign on ClickFlare where 50% of the visitors will see the Tonic page after clicking on your ad, and the other 50% will see the Ads.com page.
Note: Before doing any feed rotation, check first with your feed to see if they allow it. Certain feed providers may require exclusivity.
With ClickFlare, you can also fire multiple postbacks to your native ad platforms. For example, each search feed allows you to track a number of different events (such as view, search, click etc). Instead of sending just the main click back to Taboo or Outbrain, ClickFlare lets you send multiple events for better optimization.
When it comes to campaign management, there are two general optimization strategies: cutting underperformers and scaling overperformers. You can do this manually, by checking the data every day and manually pausing publishers, ads, or campaigns that are not converting, or by increasing bids/budgets for top performing ones. If you are launching many campaigns and manual management becomes tricky, tools like TheOptimizer can help you.
In TheOptimizer, you can set a rule to pause publishers/widgets if in the past 2 weeks they’ve received 20 or more clicks with no conversions.
You can also apply scaling rules. For example, if in the past 2 weeks, campaign ROI is 15% or higher, you can increase the campaign budget (at peak times) by 20%.
These are oversimplified rule examples, but you can create more advanced rules to safeguard and grow your native to search arbitrage campaigns with TheOptimizer.
Key Metrics to Track for Native to Search Arbitrage
Traffic Side
- CPC (Cost Per Click): Since you make profit from buying and selling clicks, this metric directly affects your profit margin.
- CPM (Cost Per 1,000 Impressions): Helps compare campaign efficiency across platforms or geos.
- CTR (Click-Through Rate): Measures how effective your ads are.
Search Feed Side
- EPC (Earnings Per Click): How much you earn for each click.
- RPM (Revenue Per 1,000 Impressions): Helps compare performance across different search feeds. This is usually a better indicator of performance because it takes into account CTR as well. For example, if Lander A has a 30% CTR and high payout, but only a few users reach this page, while Lander B has a 70% CTR and slightly lower payout, RPM will show you that Lander B is actually more profitable in terms of revenue per 1,000 visits (which isn’t clear by just looking at the EPC).
- Keyword Views (different search feeds use different names for this metric): How many users landed on your monetized page and viewed the fully loaded keyword block.
- Keyword Clicks (different search feeds use different names for this metric): How many users clicked on one of your keywords. It shows the effectiveness of your keywords.
- Ad Views: How many users clicked on one of your keywords and landed on the search results page.
- Ad Clicks: How many users clicked on one of the ads (the only event that generates income for you).
- Revenue: Both estimated and finalized.
Overall Performance Metrics
- ROI (Return on Investment): Your key profitability indicator, showing how much you’re earning back as a percentage of the ad spend.
- CPA (Cost Per Action): Shows how efficiently you’re turning traffic into paid clicks (i.e., how much you’re paying for search feed clicks).
You can track all these metrics and more with ClickFlare, and you can add your own custom metrics as well.
Final Thoughts: Is Native to Search Arbitrage Worth It in 2025?
Native to search arbitrage isn’t for everyone, but for the right media buyers, it’s still a profitable and scalable strategy in 2025. The model works when you can buy low-cost native traffic and earn more from search feed clicks than you spend. With margins usually in the 10–25% range, the key is managing your costs, optimizing your funnels, and scaling with the right tools.
What makes it worth exploring now is the shift in competition. While many marketers are focused on social ads, native traffic is less crowded and still full of untapped opportunities. If you have the budget, tracking setup, and time to test properly, native to search arbitrage can be a sustainable way to grow your media buying profits.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is native to search arbitrage?
Native to search arbitrage is a media buying strategy where you drive traffic from native ad platforms (like Taboola or Outbrain) to a monetized search page, earning money when users click on ads served by search feed providers.
Is native to search arbitrage legal and allowed?
Yes, native to search arbitrage is allowed, as long as you’re working with approved traffic sources and stay compliant with your search feed provider’s terms. However, you must avoid misleading creatives, deceptive landers, or any activity that violates ad platform policies.
How much money do I need to start?
You can start testing with around $100–300/day, but to make the model sustainable and scalable, most media buyers spend $1,000+/day. Profit margins are usually 10–25%, so volume is key.
What are the best native ad platforms for search arbitrage?
The most popular platforms are Taboola, Outbrain, NewsBreak, Revcontent, and MGID. Each offers different levels of traffic quality, CPCs, and policy strictness.
What are the best search feed providers?
Feeds like Tonic, Ads.com, System1, and ExplorAds are commonly used. However, most providers require an application and proof of budget or experience. Google AdSense is also an option for RSOC campaigns, if you have a website and meet their requirements.
What tools do I need to run native to search arbitrage?
It’s recommended to use an ad tracker and a campaign automation tool to properly track and optimize your campaigns and increase your profit margins.
Need a hand with native to search arbitrage tracking?
Try out ClickFlare for free and book a call with one of our tracking specialists who will guide you through the entire process.
