Publishers need to ensure that their sponsored content is accurately labelled, especially when shared online.
Given that revenues from traditional display advertising and classified ads are declining, native advertising appears to be a significant revenue source for news outlets. Native advertising articles, which come with headlines, photos with captions and professional text, look like news articles.
Media critics also claim that native ads might create confusion between editorial and advertising content. While native ads are labelled as ads, research also shows that such tags offer little help to readers trying to distinguish between different types of news content.
Similarly, since native ads have no bylines, most consumers are even unaware that some of the advertisements may actually be created by content studios attached to mainstream newsrooms. When such ads are shared on social media, they are often distributed in ways that further deceive audiences.
[5 minute read]
