Generative AI is already matching – and in some cases beating – human-made advertising creative. But a new study suggests success hinges on one critical factor: ads must not look like they were made by AI.
New research from Taboola, conducted with academics from Columbia University, Harvard University, Technical University of Munich and Carnegie Mellon University, found that AI-generated ads perceived as “human-made” delivered the highest engagement of all creative types.
The study, titled AI Ads That Work: How AI Creative Stacks Up Against Humans, analysed matched pairs of AI-generated and human-made ads created by the same advertiser, for the same campaign, on the same day, using a quasi-experimental “sibling ads” methodology.
Across more than 500 million impressions, nearly half of AI-generated ads were perceived by users as human-made. Those ads significantly outperformed both human-created ads and AI ads that were clearly identified as artificial.
By contrast, ads perceived to be AI-generated – regardless of whether they actually were – were consistently penalised by users, highlighting that perceived artificiality, rather than authorship, is the key driver of engagement.
One of the strongest signals influencing whether an ad felt human was the presence of a large, clear human face. Based on Taboola’s best practices and policy restrictions, AI-generated ads were more likely than human-made ads to include these trust-building cues.
From a performance perspective, AI-generated ads matched or exceeded human creative. On average, AI ads delivered a click-through rate (CTR) of 0.76%, compared with 0.65% for human-created ads. Even after applying statistical controls, AI ads performed on par with human work.
Importantly for advertisers, higher engagement did not come at the expense of quality. AI-generated visuals increased or maintained CTR without reducing downstream conversion performance, suggesting brands do not need to trade effectiveness for production scale.
Early adoption has been strongest in categories including food and drink and personal finance, according to the report.
“Taboola’s platform provided us with a literal gold mine of real-world data that is simply unavailable in a lab setting,” said Oded Netzer, vice dean for research at Columbia Business School. “By analysing over 500 million impressions, we were able to move past the hype of GenAI and uncover its real impact in large-scale settings.
“Our findings prove that when AI is used to enhance human cues – like the trust found in a human face – it doesn’t just match human performance; it often sets a new ceiling for engagement.”
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