Protecting Consumers from Data-driven and Cross-device “Native” Advertising

So-called “native advertising” ─where advertiser-produced or –directed content is designed to blend in with online editorial information ─ is quickly becoming a dominant way American consumers receive marketing. Marketers in the U.S. spent nearly $8 billion last year on native ads (up $3 billion from 2013), which is expected to rise to $21 billion by2018.¹ Native ads are where the “format and the tone match that of a publisher’s original editorial content.²

¹ http://www.businessinsider.com/spending-on (link is external)‐native‐ads‐will-soar-as-publishers‐and‐

² “The Native-Advertising Report: Spending Trends, Format Breakdowns, and Audience Attitudes.” Mark Hoelzel, BI Intellengence. 6 Nov. 2014, personal copy.