Is Native Advertising Honest Advertising?

Companies are spending more on digital native advertising -- advertisements that appear and feel like the content you'd see, for example, from friends posting in your feed on Instagram -- than they have in past years, and spending is expected to increase in 2020:

"US advertisers will increase their investments in native digital display advertising this year by 24.6% to almost $44 billion. By next year, almost two-thirds of display spending will go toward native ads." (Source: eMarketer)

Native advertising has proven to be effective over the years, but it does raise the question of honesty and transparency: Is native advertising ethical?

It is if the ad is disclosed, despite its native look/feel. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has guidelines for social media advertising that require influencers to disclose if they are compensated for featuring a product or company, but recent studies have shown that very few influencers do disclose -- especially YouTubers.

Some developers have created solutions that consumers can leverage to better understand when they're being advertised to, regardless of whether or not the FTC guidelines are upheld. One browser extension, AdIntuition, was recently featured on Wired: "The extension...AdIntuition, displays a hot pink banner warning users that 'This video contains affiliate links. If you click on highlighted links, the creator receives a commission.'” These solutions certainly can help consumers become more savvy as they browse, but the underlying issue remains: is it ethical to "trick" consumers into buying products or supporting one company over another, without them realizing it, through native advertising?

From my perspective: On the one hand, as a content creator for television, professionally speaking, it is frustrating to know that marketers are working to manipulate media in order to bolster sales or corporate reputations while many of us in traditional media are working hard to convey the truth in a time where Americans do not trust us (a recent Gallup poll shows Americans' trust in media is down to 41%). On the other hand, as a millennial living in the 21st century, I often find myself actively trying to support organizations that feel authentic and connected to customers -- and, of course, I'm guilty of purchasing products that are natively advertised to me on Instagram.

I don't know the answer to this question, but I do think that, moving forward, consumers are going to become smarter about what they see on their social media feeds and elsewhere -- and that means that effective advertising will have to evolve to keep up with changing consumer sensibilities. So whether it's ethical or not today, my hunch is that moving forward, this question will only become more complex.