The way users find information online is changing, as is the content itself. Today’s users are discovering their content with the help of social media sites and other publications. The shift has opened up a new opportunity for advertisers and publishers to engage consumers in the most effective way.

For instance, you are reading an article on your favorite news site and at the bottom of the page there is a list of additional content with a tagline: ‘From Around the Web’ or ‘Recommended for you’. Sometimes the content is relevant to you, but often it may not serve your interests.

The recommended content is part of an ad network known as Content Discovery Platforms, with which the publisher has partnered to generate revenue for its site. Taboola and Outbrain are the industry leaders with 78% of the market share. However, companies like Revcontent have grown steadily to eat into the market share.

#1 Taboola (2K+ customers): Provides online publishers a content discovery widget that displays promoted content on various publications. Publishers can also display related content of their site, along with the sponsored content, which could be in the form of advertisements, articles, videos, and slideshows.

One of the features in the platform is Taboola Choice. Users can offer feedback on the recommendations they do not like to see. Taboola incorporates the user feedback to learn and improve their recommendations.

With a market share of 50% in the content discovery platform category, Taboola provides sponsored content to highly-trafficked sites like Bloomberg, TMZ, CBS, NBC News, and Chicago Tribune, among others.

#2 Outbrain (1K+ customers): Taboola and Outbrain are more or less the same in terms of functionality. However, there are some factors that help differentiate themselves from each other. Outbrain focuses on bringing “together premium publishers and marketers of all sizes” and uses behavioral targeting to recommend content to a user.

Outbrain is more restrictive in allowing a publisher or an advertiser into their system. With a market share of 28%, Outbrain distributes content across media companies such as Time, Guardian, CNN, Mashable, Rolling Stone, and more.

#3 Revcontent (650+ customers): Founded in 2013, Revcontent has made some inroads in the content recommendation space. Dubbed as the fastest growing native advertising network, Revcontent focuses on selectivity and claims to “deny 98% of the sites that apply” to their platform.

Revcontent has 5% market share and has partnered with companies like USA Today, International Business Times, and Reuters.

Here is a handy guide to get a quick comparison of Taboola, Outbrain, and Revcontent.

There are other content discovery platforms which present brands with an opportunity to expand the reach of their content in unique ways.

If you’d like to find out more about how we collect this data, check out this post on how Siftery works.