"In its “Ethical Standards Advisory” issued on the topic of native advertising earlier this month, the PRSA nobly refers to the need to honor “the ability of consumers to develop informed opinions and to make rational decisions” (PRSA, 2014, p. 1). It calls for “full disclosure” to help audiences do just that. Yet too much industry talk of native advertising glosses over the stark parasitic nature of a practice that literally feeds on the credibility of news content, and too little focuses on the professional implications of content that is, by its nature, suggestively misleading. Native advertising “feels natural,” trumpeted a PRWeb piece (Native Wisdom, 2014). Another advertising executive gushed that native ads are “paid ads that are so cohesive with the page content, assimilated into the design, and consistent with the platform behavior that the viewer simply feels that they belong” (Interactive Advertising Bureau, 2013b). In other words, native ads are ads that are so camouflaged within news content that the viewer simply can’t tell the difference. Not misleading at all."
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