Have you ever clicked on a BuzzFeed article, or listicle or quiz, only to find out at the end you were reading a veiled advertisement the whole time? Because it happens to me fairly often.
These veiled advertisements are called “native advertising” — it’s when a company pays a brand to write an article for them and have it published on their website. I use BuzzFeed as my example because I see it there most often, but The Atlantic, the Wall Street Journal and even New York Times are guilty of this as well.
I’m usually just confused by the time I realize what I’ve been reading is an advertisement for Godiva, but I’m also slightly annoyed. As a writer and consumer of the news, I’m left wondering: is native advertising misleading and if it's even ethical?
Publishers have attempted to separate these articles by using different labeling, fonts, colors, etc. to make the ads look different— but that doesn’t seem to work. The visual similarity between a native advertisement and an actual article is deceptive.
I recognize that this type of advertising is very smart; with the popularity of listicles in the past couple years it’s easy for Whole Foods or Citi Bank or whoever to pay for their own listicle on a website. And it certainly is paying off. I recognize that BuzzFeed and New York Times want to make money, and advertising contributes a lot to that income. But it just doesn’t sit right with me.
If BuzzFeed publishes a listicle paid for by KFC, is this something that can be written without bias? Will BuzzFeed remain objective when writing other stories about KFC? While native advertisements are not likely to be hard-hitting news (if they can be considered news), there should still be a level of objectivity that is adhered to while writing and reporting, especially if the native advertisement is hidden among other articles.
Most people believe that a news site loses credibility when it publishes native ads. I’m one of these people. In our culture, we’re surrounded by advertisements. They’re everywhere: billboards, television, the internet, magazines, newspapers and so on. But usually they are easily identifiable and therefore easy to ignore. Mute the television, scroll past the ad in the middle of the article you’re reading. But when the ad is the article you’re reading, what do you do?
Exit out the site quickly? Refuse to read articles published by the organization?
Maybe just be more careful— look out for the signs of a native advertisement. Read the headlines and bylines carefully. Usually there will be a tiny tag saying "Sponsored By" or "Advertisement"-- emphasis on tiny.
Truthfully, I’ve simply stopped going on BuzzFeed, after being fooled by them more than five times. But, do what you feel is best. Just be aware.
