• by Tyler Loechner  @mp_tyler, November 3, 2014

Xaxis, WPP Group’s largest trading desk, has stepped into the “programmatic native” game through a partnership with Disqus, the tech company behind many a comment section around the Web.

The partnership will allow Xaxis clients to programmatically buy Sponsored Comment ad units on sites using Disqus' services, according to a release. Disqus claims to be used on over three million sites worldwide while generating over 1.6 billion unique monthly visitors. Xaxis will have “first look” access to Disqus inventory, per a release.

In addition to audience targeting, Xaxis clients will be able to employ “trend targeting,” for lack of a better phrase. The new programmatic native platform will scan the words and expressions used in articles and in comments, letting brands targeting “discussion topics, breaking news and trending memes,” a release claims.

“[W]e’re applying semantic, keyword targeting at the discussion level with this product,” wrote David Fleck, GM of advertising at Disqus, in a blog post announcing the partnership. “We target against what the article or blog post is about, what the discussion includes -- because sometimes the discussion forks into new topics -- and what we know about that specific user as they visit various Websites….”

Advertisers can use text-based ads, images or embedded video in the Disqus Sponsored Content unit, which appear above discussion threads.

“For native advertising to make sense for major brands, it needs to be scalable and precisely aligned with the rest of their digital marketing strategies,” stated Brian Lesser, global CEO of Xaxis. “With the Disqus partnership, advertisers can now apply the same audience-based lens to the delivery, tracking and measurement of native ads that they apply to their existing display, social, mobile and online video campaigns.”

Disqus launched Sponsored Comments in April via pilot campaigns, according to Fleck’s post.