Business Blog
FTC issues Enforcement Policy Statement and business guidance on native advertising
If what looks to be an article, video, or game is really an ad – but it’s not readily identifiable to consumers as such – the FTC has another word for it: deceptive. Ads that blur the line between advertising and content have long been a consumer protection concern under Section 5 of the FTC Act. The FTC just issued an Enforcement Policy Statement on Deceptively Formatted Advertisements that reiterates how it applies established legal principles to determine whether the format of online advertising is misleading.
Why does format matter? Knowing that something is an ad likely will affect the weight or credibility consumers give the information it conveys – or even whether they want to open it, click it, or read it at all. That’s why it’s deceptive to suggest or imply that promotional content is independent, impartial, or from a source other than the sponsoring advertiser. In other words, an ad shouldn’t convey that it’s anything other than an ad. The Enforcement Policy Statement explains how the FTC has applied – and will continue to apply – that bedrock tenet in evaluating the format of native advertising.
If you’re looking for advice on how that works in real-world settings, a new brochure, Native Advertising: A Guide for Businesses, walks advertisers through 17 examples and explains how FTC staff would evaluate them under Section 5. What’s the top takeaway? Transparency. It should be clear to consumers that what they’re looking at is an ad. If a disclosure is necessary to avoid deception, make it clear and prominent. The Guide includes pointers to help you meet that standard.
It is your choice whether to submit a comment. If you do, you must create a user name, or we will not post your comment. The Federal Trade Commission Act authorizes this information collection for purposes of managing online comments. Comments and user names are part of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) public records system, and user names also are part of the FTC’s computer user records system. We may routinely use these records as described in the FTC’s Privacy Act system notices. For more information on how the FTC handles information that we collect, please read our privacy policy.
The purpose of this blog and its comments section is to inform readers about Federal Trade Commission activity, and share information to help them avoid, report, and recover from fraud, scams, and bad business practices. Your thoughts, ideas, and concerns are welcome, and we encourage comments. But keep in mind, this is a moderated blog. We review all comments before they are posted, and we won’t post comments that don’t comply with our commenting policy. We expect commenters to treat each other and the blog writers with respect.
We don't edit comments to remove objectionable content, so please ensure that your comment contains none of the above. The comments posted on this blog become part of the public domain. To protect your privacy and the privacy of other people, please do not include personal information. Opinions in comments that appear in this blog belong to the individuals who expressed them. They do not belong to or represent views of the Federal Trade Commission.