A simple proposal on native ad labeling

The Federal Trade Commission spent a full day yesterday, listening to 22 representatives from publishing, technology and academia to tackle that most thorny of questions: How to label native advertising.

There were arguments on all sides, with one academic even suggesting the need to study how the eye’s fovea perceives various labeling. Publishers hedged, they cautioned against the dreaded “one-size-fits-all” approach since native ads can apparently vary so widely. That’s why there is a BrandVoice on Forbes, Featured Partners on BuzzFeed, “From Around the Web” from Outbrain, “You May Like” from Tablooa, and so on.

Coincidentally, most also paid fealty to paid search listings, hailed as the original native ad format: a form of content, perfectly suited to the environment, and found genuinely useful to consumers who click away to the tune of billions for Google’s coffers. Perhaps then the industry should keep it simple and cast its gaze on how Google has settled on labeling this “native” format:

Screen Shot 2013-12-05 at 12.40.44 PM

https://digiday.com/?p=57775

More in Media

Digiday+ Research: Subscriptions and events gain steam among publishers’ most significant sources of revenue

Direct-sold ads continue to be the dominant source of publishers’ revenue as we move out of the first quarter. But other revenue sources are gaining in importance, particularly subscriptions and events.

Media Briefing: Apple News ad monetization still ‘abysmal’ for some

Publishers still can’t make meaningful ad revenue from Apple News despite its push to sell more ad inventory.

Andre ‘Typical Gamer’ Rebelo hits 1 million followers on Fortnite

As Epic Games looks to establish Fortnite as an alternative to platforms such as Roblox for metaverse-interested brands, seeing an individual creator reach one million followers could help convince more marketers to turn their attention to Fortnite Creative.