Will the FCC Step in? Advertorials

As I've previously written HERE and HERE, the industry for native advertising, or so called "Advertorials" has evolved substantially in the last few months.  In the beginning, only a few sites were doing and, and many, like Buzzfeed and The Atlantic were getting blasted for it.  Now we know, that almost all websites, inlcuding the New York Times are considering it.

The FCC has recently decided to get involved in regulating the many manipulative practices of online advertising, in order to help keep consumers from getting confused. 

In the last few months, they've issued rules to twitter users (twitter celebrities) mandating that if a tweeter is posting about a product, and getting paid for that product, they must tell their users.  Specifically, the FCC said that they must post "Advertisement" in the tweet. Those 13 characters, with a space, represent 10% of tweeting room, so many have skirted the rules and used "Ad" or something to that effect. In any event, I don't think most celebrities are paying attention to the FCC.

Next, comes possible regulation of Advortorials/native advertising....or advertisements made to look like regular articles on the sites where they are placed. The idea, of course, is to trick the user into thinking that what he/she is reading, is not sponsored content, but news.

The FTC stated, "Regardless of context, consumers should be able to tell what’s an advertising pitch, whether it’s an advertorial, an infomercial, word-of-mouth marketing or native advertising," 
Currently, there are no guidelines for enforcement because there are definitional issues to be decided. But make no mistake, regulation is coming.