Calls for regulation on ‘wild west’ native advertising to give publishers and marketers boundaries
Native advertising is like the “wild west” at the moment and publishers and marketers need to agree a set of rules on how it should be presented so publishers can retain readers’ trust but use the increasingly important revenue source, according to the content director of the Sound Alliance.
The practice of native advertising, placing content created on behalf of a brand by journalists from a masthead on a certain topic in an editorial environment, has come under fire in recent days after satirist John Oliver attacked it on US show Last Week Tonight, labelling it “repurposed bovine waste”. Some claim the practice will lead to a reduction of trust from readers for mastheads, as publishers look to it to boost struggling digital revenues.
During a hangout yesterday Tim Duggan of the Sound Alliance admitted that despite native ads not existing 18 months ago, they now account for 25 per cent of the company’s revenue, but warned: “Because this is such a new area there are no set rules at the moment. Every publisher is figuring it out. Some are doing the wrong thing, some are doing the right thing. As a media community we need to figure out what these rules are.”
His calls for a code were echoed by Media Watch host and veteran journalist Paul Barry who added: “I think it would help to have a set of guidelines because that would strengthen the publishers against pressure from the advertisers if they feel they need it, and I think they probably do.”
I like the concept of native advertising and it can be quite effective. Its been going on since the beginning of time. I am pretty sure its not a new debate and the same questions have been asked about different media over the years.
I do believe that it has to be clear to the consumer that it is essentially an advertorial but its a relatively new thing and may time.
Publishers also need to scrunitize the content so that it is not overly promotional or self serving or even inaccurate as this will damage their reputation.
Brands also have a responsibility to vet the content as well and ensure the content add value.
“Tim Duggan of the Sound Alliance admitted that despite native ads not existing 18 months ago …”
Dear Tim, they did exist – for decades in fact – we just called them advertorials, but the concept was the same (paid advertising masquerading as editorial).
The issue/concept/problem isn’t a new one.