Boost your chances of more sales during the World Cup - here's how I set up targeting on Realize

A lot of performance advertisers are in the same spot right now.

Search keeps getting more expensive. Competition goes up, clicks get pricier, and at some point it gets harder to scale profitably.

Social can be the same story. It works well for a while. Then you scale, CPMs rise, and suddenly ROAS starts dropping.

So the question becomes: where do you find another channel with real volume, without starting from scratch on some tiny platform nobody has ever heard of?

That’s pretty much how I ended up testing Realize Ads, Taboola’s performance platform.

And with the World Cup happening right now, the timing feels especially interesting. There’s a short window around this event that a lot of advertisers should probably have on their radar.

What is Realize?

Realize is Taboola’s performance platform.

In simple terms: it lets you run ads across a large network of publisher and news sites, without having to book each site individually.

That’s the part that makes it interesting for performance advertisers. When Search is getting expensive and Social is getting harder to scale, Realize gives you another channel with real reach behind it.

The main difference is the environment.

Your ad is not just another post in a busy social feed. It appears on publisher sites where people are already reading articles, checking news, following sports updates, or browsing content.

For e-commerce and lead generation, that can be a strong setup. You reach people in a content-driven environment, at a moment where they’re already paying attention.

So Realize is not about replacing Search or Social. It’s more about adding another scalable performance channel when your existing channels start getting more expensive, more volatile, or harder to grow.

The Publisher Sites Where Your Ads Appear

The standout feature of Realize is the quality of its publisher network. In a sports context - which is exactly what we're talking about during the World Cup - you're landing on sites that are currently pulling millions of visits every single day. That includes:

• CBS Sports

• NBC Sports

• MSN Sports

• Yahoo Sports

• ESPN

What Ad Placements Are Available?

Realize Ads Manager offers a variety of interesting ad placement options. In this post, we’ll focus on the following two:

Native Ads

The classic format. Your ad appears below articles and looks like another piece of editorial content. A well-designed creative invites clicks without feeling intrusive. If you put in the effort to align your visuals and headline with the World Cup context, you have a real edge over generic ads running at the same time.

Vertical Ads (Display Ads)

These can run alongside native placements. Same logic applies: the creative can match the event context if it makes sense for your offer.

If you want more on crafting effective World Cup creatives, I wrote a separate article on that.

Targeting During the World Cup: Your Options

This is where it gets specific. The Realize Ads Manager offers several targeting options. Two of them are particularly useful during the World Cup.

1. Contextual Targeting: Show Up in the Right Content Environment

Contextual targeting lets you define the content context in which your ads appear. If someone is actively reading a World Cup article and your ad shows up right next to it, that's not luck — that's the setting you chose.

In the Ads Manager, under "Target Users by Topics," you can go broad and select Sport generally. More reach, but a more mixed audience. Or you can narrow it down and pick Football specifically. Less volume, but you'r

For campaigns where the World Cup context is directly relevant to your offer, this is a smart setting to have on.

2. Audience Targeting: First-Party Data and Third-Party Data

It's worth explaining the difference here, because it often gets mixed up.

First-party data is data Taboola has collected directly from its own publisher network - 17 years of proprietary behavioral data from millions of real users across premium sites. No third-party middleman, no cookie dependency.

In the Realize Ads Manager, these segments are called "1P Realize Audiences." Search for "Soccer" and you'll find audience segments built specifically around World Cup interest. Not generic sports fans. People actively engaging with World Cup content right now.

Third-party data comes from external data providers who offer their segments through the Realize Marketplace. Soccer audiences are available here too.

The difference: this data doesn't originate from Taboola's own network. In today's post-cookie world, first-party data is generally the more reliable option. That said, third-party data can be a useful add-on if you want to expand reach further.

Both can run in parallel. That makes it easy to test approaches within a single campaign structure.

Campaign Structure: How I'd Set It Up

If I'm setting this up myself, I'm not throwing everything into one campaign. I'm testing.

A reasonable starting structure:

• Campaign Group 1: Contextual Targeting (Sport / Football topics)

• Campaign Group 2: Audience Targeting (1P Realize Audiences, Soccer/World Cup)

This lets you see what actually converts and shift budget accordingly. Third-party data can be added as a third group. The Realize Ads Manager is built in a way that this kind of split doesn't take much effort.

The Bottom Line

A Football World Cup is a global event that concentrates audience attention on a small number of very high-traffic sites for weeks. Advertisers who are visible in those environments, at the right moment, get reach that's hard to replicate through normal campaigns.

With Realize Ads, getting there is more straightforward than most people expect. One dashboard, clear targeting options, premium publishers without individual negotiations.

If you want to test this out, I'd recommend getting in touch with Realize Ads directly. You land on a short form, fill in your details, and someone from the team gets back to you. They'll help with setup and answer your questions. Takes a few minutes.

If you sign up, I may receive a commission at no additional cost to you.

LEARN MORE

---

Advertisement - This post was created in paid collaboration with Taboola / Realize Ads.

Affiliate Disclosure: Contains affiliate/referral links. If you sign up through my link, I may receive a commission at no additional cost to you.

General Notice: Personal blog, personal opinion. All brand names are the property of their respective owners. No performance guarantees.