Non-endemic at scale

Up-Funnel Non-Endemic: non-endemic retail media at scale. Particular Audience indexes advertising partners' product and creative data and uses Adaptive Transformer Search to match relevant non-endemic ads to shoppers during search, browse, product views, cart, checkout and confirmation, based on context and purchase behaviour.

Creative eligibility: every creative must have linked products or descriptive metadata and rich alt text; a creative with neither is rejected.

53% of advertisers have used retailers' media networks where they are a non-endemic brand. Source: EMARKETER, Non-Endemic Advertising Explainer 2024 (Jul 2024), https://www.emarketer.com/content/non-endemic-advertising-explainer-2024, checked 2026-11-12.

63% of retailers surveyed have non-seller brands advertising on their media network. Source: Merkle, The Rise of the Retail Media Network (Undated), https://www.merkle.com/en/merkle-now/ebooks/the-rise-of-the-retail-media-network.html, checked 2026-11-12.

88.2% of US retail media digital ad spend in 2026 is forecast to go to Amazon and Walmart, leaving every other network to compete for the remainder. Source: EMARKETER, FAQ on non-endemic retail media (Dec 2025 forecast) (Feb 2026), https://www.emarketer.com/content/faq-on-non-endemic-retail-media--leaders--data-uses--what-s-new-2026, checked 2026-11-12.

$60.32bn US retail media ad spend in 2025. EMARKETER describes endemic brand spending as approaching saturation. Source: EMARKETER, FAQ on non-endemic retail media (Feb 2026), https://www.emarketer.com/content/faq-on-non-endemic-retail-media--leaders--data-uses--what-s-new-2026, checked 2026-11-12.

$129.93bn forecast US omnichannel retail media spend by 2028, with growth fuelled partly by non-endemic partnerships. Source: EMARKETER, 5 charts on what's shaping retail media through 2028 (Aug 2024), https://www.emarketer.com/content/whats-shaping-retail-media-now-through-2028-search-endemic-advertisers-financial-media-competition, checked 2026-11-12.

Top 3 Media, financial services and quick-service restaurants are retailers' main non-endemic advertisers (US retailers, Aug 2023). Source: EMARKETER report summary via GlobeNewswire (Aug 2024), https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2024/08/09/2927604/28124/en/Non-Endemic-Advertising-Explainer-2024-What-Should-Brands-and-Retailers-Know-About-the-Trajectory-of-Non-Endemic-Advertising-in-Retail-Media.html, checked 2026-11-12.

Auto parts & accessories (illustrative): Buys fully synthetic high-performance engine oil 5W-40, 5 L → Veloce GT 2027 — book a test drive from A performance car maker. Premium performance oil buyers own or want performance cars; ATS reads the oil grade and pack size, not just the word 'oil'.

Grocery (illustrative): Buys a 50-pack of compatible coffee pods every fortnight → Bean-to-cup espresso machine, £249 from A countertop appliance brand. Repeat pod buying signals a coffee habit; a machine from another brand is relevant, and the retailer decides whether to allow competing systems.

Home care (illustrative): Searches "vacuum bags type 3" → Cordless bagless vacuum — trade-in offer from A floorcare brand. Bag buyers have an ageing bagged vacuum; an upgrade is the next relevant purchase.

Classifieds marketplace (illustrative): Searches a hatchback model and year in motor → Certified used and new stock of that model from Dealers and car brands (via their feeds). ATS searches dealer and brand feeds and returns the matching model, not just a keyword match. Appliance retailer catalogues show only when second-hand results are thin.

All advertising is non-endemic. Context makes it better. TV channels don't sell the cars in their ad breaks, cinemas don't sell the watches in their trailers, and social feeds don't sell the products shown between posts. Magazines, billboards, radio and podcasts have always carried advertising for things they don't sell. Advertising on a retail site is the same idea, with one advantage: the shopper is in the middle of buying something, so the context is far sharper. Billboard, TV, cinema: Broad reach. Context is guessed from time, place and channel, or from the programme the audience chose to watch. Social media: The audience is matched from profile and interest signals, not from what they are buying at that moment. Product placement: The product lives inside the story: the hero drinks a branded cola, wears a Swiss watch and drives a British sports car, as in well-known film placements. Retail context with ATS: Matched to what the shopper is searching, viewing or buying right now. The strongest context there is. Retailers aren't asking whether to run non-endemic ads. They're choosing how relevant to make them.

Start with attention: ads that don't take shoppers off the site. Many non-endemic advertisers, such as insurers, car makers, banks, telcos and travel brands, buy reach and attention, not clicks. They are happy with a well-placed brand panel, video or rich media unit and need no click-out. That keeps the shopper on the path to buying, so the retailer gives up no conversions.

Finance, banks and credit cards: target without customer data. Card issuers, banks and lenders can use the same ATS targeting, driven by vendor-level or SKU-level transaction data. Our API takes only vendor or SKU data. It takes no customer data and no personal information, so no shopper is identified or shared.

For classifieds and marketplaces: sponsored listings from specialist retailers' catalogues. Third-party catalogues from dealers, brands and category specialist retailers are indexed; ATS returns the items that fit each search. Every ad is labelled "Sponsored" with the advertiser's name, plus new or used where it applies, on a card that looks different from a second-hand listing. New goods can be held back until second-hand results are thin: very few matches, nothing left after a filter, or repeated searches. The marketplace approves every advertiser and creative; frequency caps stop ads dominating a search. A three-way split (no ads, current targeting, PA-matched) shows what the ads are worth and whether PA matching earns its place. A language model judge scores each search-and-ad pair against a written rubric, calibrated with hand-labelled samples. Sold on CPM, served through the existing ad server or dedicated native slots.

Classifieds and marketplaces: mid-search sponsored listings from category specialist retailers look like listings but are labelled non-endemic ads.

Start small: 1 category niche, 3 specialist retailers, 2 placements (Mid-search sponsored listing, Listing-page tile).

Example niches: Furniture & home, Car parts & tyres, Bikes & outdoors, Baby & kids, Electronics.

CPM floors (illustrative €8–€25): Private listings are the product. A floor stops cheap ads crowding them out. Every sponsored slot has to pay more than the listing it displaces. Floors keep retailers bidding on relevance, not on volume. The marketplace sets the floor. We notify on pacing; we never change floors or caps.

Search intent: Misspellings, sizes, brand names and second-hand words like "defective" or "vintage".

Adaptive Transformer Search: Matches the meaning against every retailer's feed, not a keyword list.

Relevant retailer ad: Shown when private listings are thin or the ad clearly fits, under the marketplace's rules.

Grocery spin-out (illustrative): a view-only CPM ad in the shopping flow, with no click-out, then the same product as a clickable ad on the order confirmation page.

Coffee pods, 50-pack → Bean-to-cup espresso machine (Fits): A coffee habit makes a machine the obvious next step.

BBQ charcoal and firelighters → Gas grill with side burner (Fits): A charcoal buyer is already grilling; an upgrade is relevant.

Large bag of dog food → Pet insurance quote (Fits): Dog owners need cover; the ad takes no customer data.

Protein powder, 1 kg → Gym membership, first month free (Retailer decides): Relevant, but the retailer may sell its own fitness range or partner already.

Baby formula, stage 1 → Lightweight pram (Retailer decides): Relevant, but baby baskets are sensitive; shown only if the retailer approves.

Baby formula, stage 1 → Premium gin gift set (Blocked): Alcohol next to baby products is never shown.

Contextual acceptability: Category adjacency: the ad must relate to what is in the basket. Sensitive categories (baby, health, pregnancy) need the retailer's approval. Alcohol, gambling and age-restricted ads are blocked next to children's and sensitive products. The retailer's own block list and competing-system rules always win. Each basket-and-ad pair is scored for fit before it can serve.

3+ recalled ads: 159% more click-throughs. Radio, recall-based; people who recalled three or more ads versus those who did not. Source: Nielsen (2016), cited by the Radio Advertising Bureau (https://www.rab.com/whyradio/faq/faqprint.cfm?id=35217).

Twice the impressions, nearly twice the sales effect. Field experiment with a national retailer: 17 → 34 impressions per person in two weeks; returns roughly linear up to 50 ads. Source: Johnson, Lewis & Reiley, Yahoo! Research (2013) (https://davidreiley.com/papers/AddMoreAds.pdf).

Unfamiliar brands need repeat views to wear in. Banner ads for familiar brands wore out quickly; less familiar ones needed multiple exposures. Source: Journal of Advertising Research (2001) (https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Banner+Advertisements+through+a+New+Lens-a079794422).

Too often, too close: CTR drops. Across 5.8 billion impressions, higher frequency and shorter gaps related to lower CTR. Source: Försch & de Haan, IJRM (2018) (https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ijrema/v35y2018i4p661-672.html).

Repeat views help most when they build familiarity without asking for a click, and when they are spaced and capped. So views 1–3 are view-only, and the single click opportunity comes after purchase, when the shopper is free to act. Frequency caps and spacing stay in the retailer's hands.

Placement, tenancy, segment and keyword targeting remain available; ATS contextual matching adds scale.

Guardrails: The retailer approves every advertiser, category and creative; Competitive exclusions: the retailer decides whether competing brands or systems may appear; Frequency caps and a cap on non-endemic slots per page; Relevance floor before any bid is considered; Consent-gated measurement; no personal data shared with advertisers; Pacing: PA notifies AdOps and advertisers; bid floors, caps and any makegood remain the retailer's decision.

What is up-funnel non-endemic advertising? Ads from brands and services the retailer does not sell, such as cars, coffee machines from other brands, finance or insurance, shown to shoppers whose search, browsing or purchases make them relevant.

How is this different from the non-endemic deals retailers already run? Most are sold one placement, segment or keyword list at a time. PA indexes partners' product and creative data and uses Adaptive Transformer Search to match ads automatically across search, browse, product pages, cart, checkout and confirmation, so the programme can scale.

What does a creative need to be eligible? Either linked products from the advertiser's feed, or descriptive metadata and rich alt text. A creative with neither is rejected, because there is nothing to match.

Does this replace placement, tenancy, segment or keyword targeting? No. Those remain available in the platform. ATS contextual matching is an added layer that removes the manual limit on scale.

Isn't non-endemic advertising new? No. Almost all advertising is non-endemic: TV, cinema, print, radio, billboards and social feeds carry ads for products they don't sell. Retail media adds the sharpest context, what the shopper is buying now.

Do finance advertisers get customer data? No. The API accepts only vendor-level or SKU-level data. No customer data or personal information is accepted or shared.

Will non-endemic ads take shoppers away? They don't have to. Many advertisers buy attention without a click-out, and the retailer controls whether links are allowed and on which pages.

Up-Funnel Non-Endemic

Scale non-endemic advertising: partner products and creative matched to shoppers by Adaptive Transformer Search.

Works with

• Sponsored Products — Sponsored products boosted in proportion to relevance, on every surface.
• Adaptive Transformer Search — Understand intent and cut null results.

Add next

• Search Retargeting — Reach recent search intent again across the whole site.

Outcomes it moves

• Profit Rate Optimisation