HuffPo sponsors its own native ad about native ads
Native advertising has been a buzz topic for a few weeks since John Oliver called out the practice, but many people are still confused as to what it actually is.
Fear not, for the Huffington Post has created the most meta piece of native advertising ever, partnering with itself to create a piece of native advertising, about native advertising, served on its own home page.
However, with the title of “8 Myths About Native Advertising That Are Almost Entirely Untrue” it does lead Dr Mumbo to ask which parts of them are true?
The piece itself is a “mythbusting” exercise looking at four common “misconceptions” people have about the practice of brands putting content as close to a news feed as they possibly can.
Myths busted include the fact native advertising isn’t new, that it doesn’t scale, and that “it’s deceitful”, with the HuffPo saying to that last point: “Deceptive advertising practices, native or otherwise, have no future. It’s in everyone’s—the publisher’s, brands, and consumer’s—best interest to make sure that native ads are adequately labeled and disclosed. Transparency is a MUST HAVE, not a NICE TO HAVE. Without these ethics, everyone loses.”
Some readers seem to have been a little slow to understand exactly what it is the HuffPo is talking about, with the sentiment summed up by commenter Michael English:
For people who want to copy-paste that quote, here it is in text.
“Oh, I get it. This is an advertisement for advertisements masquerading as news articles, which is itself masquerading as a news article- about advertisements masquerading as news articles.
Very meta. Also kind of nauseating.”
– Michael English 2014
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Some readers seem to have been a little slow to understand exactly what it is the HuffPo is talking about, with the sentiment summed up by commenter Dave English:
Why does Dave English masquerade as a fella called Michael English?
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