“Native Advertising” Practices Illegal, Confusing

The increased use of advertisements that are indistinguishable from editorial content on a website – known as "native advertising" or “sponsored content” -- may be illegal in some instances, according to the US Federal Trade Commission. Seventy-three percent of online publishers use native advertising, while 41 percent of brands and one-third of advertising agencies use it. The commission recently held a workshop to determine whether it should issue additional guidance on the issue to help both advertisers and publishers avoid enforcement actions. The net result: "This has raised more questions than it answered," Mary Engle, the FTC's associate director of the advertising practices division, said. The industry is being proactive. Trade groups including the American Society of Magazine Editors have released guidelines for native advertising practices. (Reuters)(Adweek)(The New York Times)
 

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Taiwan Investigates Samsung Practices

Taiwanese fair-trade officials have reportedly launched an investigation into Samsung’s business practices after allegations surfaced that the South Korean technology company paid individuals to submit critical reviews of products by Taiwanese rival HTC. The company reportedly hired students to post unfavorable reviews of HTC phones and to suggest that consumers purchase unlocked Samsung handsets instead. Samsung hasn't formally responded to the charges. However, Samsung’s Taiwan Facebook page reportedly said that the company regretted any confusion and inconvenience its Internet marketing may have caused and that it “has halted all Internet marketing such as posting articles on websites.” If found guilty, Samsung could be fined up to 25 million Taiwanese dollars (about $840,000 at press time). (BBC)(InformationWeek)(TechCrunch)(AFP)

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