12-10. Debate whether the FTC’s current regulations and guidelines regarding online advertising are adequate for this nature of advertising promotions. Will the FTC likely issue new guidelines or regulations? (AACSB Communication; Reflective Thinking)

Marketers have always advertised in traditional media such as newspapers, television, and magazines, but today they are increasingly creating content for the online platforms of these media through native advertising, also called sponsored content. This form of promotion is not new. It dates back to the late 1880s as “reading notices” that placed information about brands and companies in news stories, usually without indicating sponsorship. However, sponsorship of today’s native advertising is often clearly labeled. Native advertising is growing quickly. It is now offered by 73 percent of online publishers, and more than 40 percent of brands now use it. For example, Forbes’s BrandVoice lets companies such as IBM and CenturyLink place content both in the print magazine and on its digital platform at Forbes.com. Readers can learn from CenturyLink about how big data will change travel marketing or from Samsung about how to close the gender gap in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education. Other publisher sites, such as The Huffington Post, help marketers create sponsored content. Its HuffPost Partner Studio provides writers, designers, and editors who assist business partners in creating relevant content about their brands in the familiar HuffPost voice. Fiber One tells readers “11 Diet ‘Rules’ You Can Absolutely Break,” IBM explains how businesses can use social media, and Cottonelle tells readers how to fix the mistakes they are making in the bathroom. Social media are also getting in on the action. For example, Facebook reaped more than $1 billion in mobile native advertising alone in just one quarter. The rapid growth of native advertising has also caught the attention of the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC recently held a conference, “Blurred Lines: Advertising or Content? An FTC Workshop on Native Advertising” to discuss the issues of blending advertising with news and other content, leaving some to wonder if further regulations are forthcoming.