Native Advertising: The Ethical Line

What is Native Advertising?

Native advertising offers marketing materials that align with the content of the media source. This advertising is paid and designed to match the functionality of the natural content users might see on their feeds. An example of this would be seeing an advertisement in the form of an Instagram story when tapping through stories. This concept can be seen over various platforms and is rapidly gaining popularity. It allows brands to engage with their audiences in a more organic way that is less intrusive than traditional advertising. However, the seamless blending of native advertising presents numerous ethical dilemmas.

Positive Aspects

Before reviewing the ethical downfalls of native advertising, let's first look at how it can be of value. By subtly promoting a product or service, users can preserve their engagement, media outlets can gain revenue, and brands have an opportunity to be creative.

Preserve User Engagement

Native advertising is designed to preserve or enhance user engagement. By seamlessly blending with the surrounding content, these ads are not disruptive to the audience's natural user flows. Rather than abruptly inserting itself and putting a pause on regular content, native ads allow users to stay engaged with the platform they are on.

Revenue for Media Platforms

Media platforms can gain massive revenue from native advertising. Their platforms can be monetized, which is often their primary source of income. Media platforms have various opportunities through other companies to publish their sponsored content. This allows them to be more financially stable and not depend on one income source. The platforms can then stay up, making the experience better for users.

Creativity for Brands

Brands can use native advertising as a creative twist on their traditional marketing. Marketers can experiment with many content types rather than being limited to a single format. This can include podcasts, social media posts, and even interactive websites. In addition, brands can keep the current engagement of a user when they are already on the site they enjoy and get them to be just as engaged with their advertised content.

Negatives

While there are some legitimate ways that native advertising can be a helpful practice, it has also been criticized for its ethics. These could include deceptive practices, risk of authenticity, and potential for exploitation.

Deceptive Practices

One of the most pressing concerns about native advertising is its deceptiveness. Although it is discreet and less obnoxious for the viewer, it still poses a threat for deceiving their influence. If the audience cannot distinguish between editorial and advertised content, they may be tricked into thinking it is impartial. By not clearly labeling an advertisement as such, customers may be misled, which is an unethical practice for marketers to uphold.

Risk of Authenticity

When native advertising involves itself amongst journalists, it risks their authenticity and integrity. Journalists have a responsibility to report news without external influence. Having a journalist participate in creating native advertisements can seriously alter their impartiality. Audiences rely on journalists for this trait specifically, wavering it is wildly unethical.

Potential for Exploitation

With how native ads are designed, a customer's trust can easily be exploited by the company and the media platform. These native ads may unconsciously influence customers because they appear so unsuspecting. They might not critically evaluate the paid content as they usually would an advertisement. This risks customer exploitation and could lead them to misleading messaging.

Stance

Native advertising should be allowed; however, strict and clear guidelines must be implemented. 68% of consumers trust native ads in an editorial context (Wong, 2022). Native advertisements must be labeled unambiguously with a clear description of their intentions. This will prevent any deception of customers and the exploitation of their trust. It is important to note that native advertising will hold a delicate balance, often toeing the ethics line.

Native advertising is one of the most popular routes of advertising today. With an expected reach of $98.59 billion in 2023, native ads are not going away (eMarketer). Banning all native ads may not be a realistic solution, given the current _situation_ of the digital world. The best way to prevent the harmful effects of native advertising is to make customers fully aware of their presence. Customers and viewers should feel empowered to make informed decisions without deception and exploitation. This will hold marketers accountable, and the ethical standards of paid content will be upheld.

Conclusion 

Native advertising is a powerful tool for marketers and is becoming increasingly prevalent. Its ability to seamlessly blend promotional and natural content on any media platform poses several risks to unsuspecting customers. However, to find a balance between the advantages and ethical challenges, clear guidelines and labeling should be implemented to avoid customers' deception. By doing so, we can ensure that native advertising serves its purpose without crossing the ethics line.

Hi! My name is Kristin Ardese and I am a professional Graphic Designer and Marketing Strategist. I hope that by sharing some of my expertise, I can help offer valuable insights and build an engaging community.