Online ads must not masquerade as editorial content, US consumer protection watchdog warns

The growing online usage of advertisement’s designed to blend in with the rest of a website’s content, a practice known as “native advertising”, may be illegal in some instances, the US Federal Trade Commission warned on Wednesday.

The FTC said a survey of online publishers found that 73 per cent allowed native advertising, the digital descendant of the newspaper “advertorial” and television’s infomercials.

“Marketers have … moved past the banner ad into advertising that is more seamlessly, and inconspicuously, integrated into digital content,” FTC chairwoman Edith Ramirez said in a speech that opened a conference on Blurred Lines: Advertising or Content.

“While native advertising may certainly bring some benefits to consumers, it has to be done lawfully,” she said.

“By presenting ads that resemble editorial content, an advertiser risks implying, deceptively, that the information comes from a non-biased source.”

The website BuzzFeed.com is often cited as an effective user of native advertising.

Among the content on the website recently was a list of “13 dogs who get an A for effort”, sponsored by the pet-food brand Purina Pro Plan, and a list of “15 Creative Snowmen That Will Blow Your Mind”, sponsored by Columbia Sportswear.