You have a news channel on Telegram is a cloud-based messaging app with over 900 million monthly active users that serves as a major platform for news distribution and digital advertising.. It’s growing. People are reading your updates. Now comes the tricky part: how do you actually make money from it without annoying your subscribers into leaving?
This is the core tension facing every publisher today. You can go with native ads is advertising content designed to match the look, feel, and function of the media format in which it appears, blending seamlessly into the user's feed., where the promotion looks just like another news update. Or you can use external links is hyperlinks within posts that direct users away from the Telegram application to websites, landing pages, or other third-party services., pushing traffic out to your website or an advertiser’s offer. By 2026, the rules for these formats have shifted significantly, especially with Telegram opening up its official ad system to allow more flexible destination URLs.
The Core Difference: Staying In vs. Going Out
To pick the right strategy, you first need to understand what each format actually does inside a news feed. Native ads are about integration. They sit right between your breaking headlines and market reports. To the casual scroller, they look like part of the editorial flow. The only thing giving them away is usually a small "Ad" label or a subtle disclosure tag.
External links, on the other hand, are transactional. Their primary job is to move the user. When someone clicks a post with an external link, they leave the comfort of the chat interface. They open a browser tab, load a landing page, or jump into an app store. This creates friction. But it also opens the door to specific business goals that staying inside Telegram cannot achieve, like selling a product directly or capturing an email address on a website.
| Feature | Native Ads (In-Feed) | External Link Placements |
|---|---|---|
| User Experience | Seamless, non-disruptive, high trust | Interruptive, requires context switch |
| Primary Goal | Awareness, brand affinity, internal growth | Conversions, sales, off-platform actions |
| Content Length | Flexible (can be long-form text + images) | Often shorter teasers (160 chars in official ads) |
| Measurement | Views, engagement, sentiment | Clicks, CPA, ROAS, site analytics |
| Policy Constraints | Must disclose sponsorship clearly | Subject to strict URL verification and compliance |
How Native Ads Work in News Channels
When we talk about native ads in Telegram news channels, we are usually looking at two distinct methods. The first is the official Telegram Ads Platform is the official self-service advertising system provided by Telegram that allows advertisers to place sponsored messages in public channels with at least 1,000 subscribers.. These sponsored messages appear in the feed of large public channels. They are visually identical to regular posts but carry a mandatory "Ad" marker. The text limit here is tight-usually capped at 160 characters. This forces advertisers to be punchy. You don’t have room for a deep dive; you have room for a hook.
The second method is direct native integration. This happens when a channel owner sells a slot directly to a brand. Unlike the official platform, there is no character limit. You can write a 500-word analysis piece that happens to feature a sponsor’s financial tool. This feels much more organic. For a news channel covering crypto, a native post might analyze a recent market crash while naturally introducing a trading bot as a solution. Because it matches the tone of voice and provides actual value, readers tolerate it better than a banner ad would ever get.
The key advantage here is trust. News audiences are skeptical. If you slap a flashy discount code on a serious geopolitical update, people notice. If you weave a sponsor’s message into a relevant story, it passes the "vibe check." However, this requires discipline. If you run three native ads for every ten news updates, your audience will smell the commercial intent. Most successful publishers cap this ratio to keep their credibility intact.
The Shift Toward External Links
For years, Telegram was a walled garden. If you used the official Ads platform, your link had to point to another Telegram channel or a bot. You couldn’t send people to your Shopify store or your newsletter signup page. This frustrated many performance marketers who needed measurable conversions outside the app.
That changed recently. As of 2025 and moving into 2026, Telegram has introduced new flows that allow external links in certain ad formats. Additionally, the rise of Mini Apps is interactive web applications that run directly inside the Telegram messenger, enabling complex functionalities like games, shopping, and payments without leaving the app. has created a hybrid model. Mini Apps can host full websites and accept payments, effectively acting as external destinations that still feel native because they open within the Telegram window.
Why does this matter? Because it solves the attribution problem. With native-only ads, you measure success by views and maybe a spike in channel subscriptions. With external links, you can track exactly what happened after the click. Did they buy? Did they sign up? Did they bounce? For advertisers running campaigns with strict ROI targets, this visibility is non-negotiable. If you are a news publisher selling ad space, offering access to these external-link capabilities makes your inventory much more valuable to performance-driven brands.
Performance and Engagement Realities
Let’s talk numbers, even if exact global averages are hard to pin down due to niche variations. The cost structure for official Telegram ads operates on a CPM (Cost Per Mille) basis. In many regions, the minimum CPM hovers between €0.50 and €1.00 per 1,000 impressions. This is incredibly cheap compared to Facebook or LinkedIn. However, cheap impressions don’t mean easy conversions.
Native ads generally win on engagement. Because they don’t demand an immediate action (like clicking a button), users read them more thoroughly. The view-through rate is higher. But the click-through rate (CTR) tends to be lower unless the content is exceptionally compelling. Users stay in the feed. They consume the info. They scroll past.
External link placements have the opposite profile. The CTR is often lower initially because users hesitate to leave the app. There is a psychological barrier to opening a browser. But once they click, the intent is higher. The people who click an external link are ready to act. They want the full article, the product details, or the download. This means that while native ads build brand warmth, external links drive revenue.
Consider a fintech advertiser. A native ad in a crypto news channel might explain why volatility is high, subtly mentioning their stablecoin. This builds awareness. An external link ad might say "Trade now with zero fees" and lead to a registration page. The native ad keeps them in the ecosystem; the external link tries to capture their wallet address. Both are necessary, but they serve different stages of the funnel.
Technical Setup and Policy Constraints
If you decide to run these ads yourself, you need to navigate the technical landscape. For the official Telegram Ads platform, you have two main account types: EUR cabinets and TON cabinets. The EUR cabinet typically requires a significant minimum deposit (often around €2,000 for direct accounts, though agencies may lower this to €500). The TON cabinet uses cryptocurrency, requiring a TON wallet and blockchain-based verification. Both operate under the same creative constraints.
Here is where it gets tricky for external links. Even with the new external link options, Telegram maintains strict review processes. Your landing page must comply with their policies. No misleading claims, no adult content, no aggressive pop-ups. If you are using third-party networks to serve mini-app ads that link externally, you gain flexibility but lose some of the platform-level targeting precision. You are relying on those networks’ algorithms to find the right audiences.
For direct native deals, the setup is manual. You negotiate via email or DM. You agree on a price based on metrics like average views per post. Tools like TGStat are essential here. You check the channel’s history. Are the views real? Is the engagement organic? If you buy a native slot in a fake channel built just to sell ads, you waste your budget. Always verify the audience quality before handing over cash.
Choosing the Right Strategy for Your Goals
So, which one should you choose? It depends entirely on what you are trying to achieve.
- Choose Native Ads if: You are building a brand. You want to increase trust. You are promoting a service that requires education before purchase (like B2B software or financial planning). You want to keep users engaged within the Telegram ecosystem to grow your own community.
- Choose External Links if: You need immediate sales. You are running an e-commerce promotion. You are driving traffic to a blog post that lives on your own domain. You need precise tracking data to calculate your return on ad spend (ROAS).
The smartest publishers and advertisers don’t pick just one. They blend them. Use native ads to warm up the audience. Provide value. Establish authority. Then, follow up with external link placements for those who are ready to convert. This hybrid approach leverages the strengths of both formats. It respects the user’s experience while still driving business results.
In 2026, Telegram is no longer just a messaging app. It is a sophisticated media platform. Understanding the nuance between staying in-feed and pushing out-of-app is the difference between getting ignored and getting paid.
What is the minimum budget for Telegram Ads?
For direct EUR accounts, the minimum deposit is typically around €2,000. However, many advertisers work through authorized partners or agencies that can lower this threshold to approximately €500. For TON cabinet accounts funded with cryptocurrency, there is no fixed fiat minimum, but you must cover the cost of your campaign bids and verification fees.
Can I use external links in official Telegram Ads?
Historically, official Telegram Ads only allowed links to Telegram channels or bots. However, as of 2025-2026, Telegram has introduced new ad flows and integrations with Mini Apps that allow for external website links in specific campaign types. Always check the current settings in the ads.telegram.org interface, as features roll out gradually by region and account type.
How do I measure the success of native ads?
Since native ads often focus on engagement rather than immediate clicks, you should track view counts, forward rates, and reaction emojis. For direct native deals, use unique promo codes or UTM-tagged short links embedded in the post to track traffic to your external properties. Tools like TGStat help analyze channel-level performance metrics such as average views per post and engagement ratios.
Are native ads more expensive than external link ads?
It depends on the buying method. Official ads for both formats operate on similar CPM models (€0.50-€1.00+). However, direct native posts purchased from individual channel owners are priced as flat fees. These can result in a higher effective CPM (e.g., €5.00+) because you are paying for editorial endorsement and guaranteed placement, not just impressions.
What is the best practice for mixing ads in a news channel?
To maintain audience trust, most experts recommend limiting sponsored content to no more than 10-20% of total posts. For example, if you publish 10 news updates a day, include only 1-2 native ads. Ensure all ads are clearly disclosed and provide genuine value relevant to your specific niche to avoid subscriber fatigue and unsubscribes.
