{"id":365,"date":"2015-08-26T12:03:18","date_gmt":"2015-08-26T12:03:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ftcguardian.com\/articles\/?p=365"},"modified":"2017-03-17T01:53:12","modified_gmt":"2017-03-17T01:53:12","slug":"marketing-360-reviews-deceptive-native-advertising","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ftcguardian.com\/articles\/marketing-360-reviews-deceptive-native-advertising\/","title":{"rendered":"Marketing 360 Reviews Deceptive Native Advertising"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Marketing 360 Reviews Deceptive Native Advertising<\/h1>\n
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While the quest to remain FTC compliant in native advertising is the best option, there is a lot of gray\u00a0area and shenanigans\u00a0going on out there.<\/h3>\n

Native advertising is meant to be veiled promotion, but an advertisement for a brain boosting supplement takes it to a new level of deception…<\/span><\/h6>\n

Advertising creeps<\/em>. It slips into everyday things, then acts like it\u2019s always been there.<\/p>\n

Native advertisements<\/em> blur the line between actual editorial content and advertisements.\u00a0I recently came across a native advertisement so blatantly deceptive<\/strong>, you wonder how it\u2019s allowed.<\/p>\n

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The ad is for a brain boosting supplement called Cogniq<\/em>. I first clicked on a \u201csponsored\u201d link where no-less than Stephen Hawking stated this pill would change humanity<\/em>. It took me to this page:<\/p>\n

(Note, we cannot link directly to the page.\u00a0 It redirects).<\/p>\n

As you can see, this page actually disguises itself as part of the CNN domain. It is not. It\u2019s an advertising landing page.<\/p>\n

The page proceeds \u2013 in complete editorial format \u2013 to explain how Hawking, Denzel Washington, Anderson Cooper,<\/em> and Bill Gates<\/em> all use this supplement to great success.<\/p>\n

I admit, this ad is so well disguised<\/strong> it took a moment for me to realize it was fake \u2013 and I work in the advertising industry.<\/p>\n

Of course when you think about, you realize that if Stephen Hawking was actually taking a smart pill<\/em>, it would be huge news.\u00a0It\u2019s ludicrous<\/em>. But when you see Wolf Blitzer in interview mode and famous people being quoted<\/em>, it doesn\u2019t occur to you that it\u2019s a sales pitch.<\/p>\n

Which is what they want. Links click to their sales page:\"Click<\/a><\/p>\n

These guys are pros. This landing page has all the ingredients: urgency, call-to-action, trust labels, testimonials, facts\/data, emotional pull, fear factor. All to support a promise that\u2019s too good to be true.<\/p>\n

In this case, it\u2019s clear that the advertiser\u2019s intent is to completely disguise the nature of this content. Eventually this may be regulated, but it\u2019s hard to say when because the news agencies also make money off the ads.<\/p>\n

In the Oliver piece, a Time Warner executive states that \u201cGood native advertising is not meant to be trickery, it\u2019s publishers sharing their storytelling tools with marketers.\u201d\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

In the case of Cogniq, the advertiser stole those tools. Buyer beware.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

via Marketing 360 Reviews Deceptive Native Advertising<\/a><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s How To Make Sure You,<\/span>
\n<\/span>Your Business & Website Is FTC Compliant<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

By now it should be clear how important it is for you to be FTC compliant. But how can you do that without spending $7,500-$8,000 or more on Internet Attorneys?<\/span><\/p>\n

Smart business owners around the world are doing it with the help of <\/span>FTC Guardian<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

FTC Guardian is a service that is 100% focused on helping to keep you get and stay FTC compliant and fully protected. And right now, we are offering a free training to give you the knowledge, information, and guidance that you need to stay out of trouble with the Federal Trade Commission.<\/a><\/p>\n

The training is titled: 3 Tragic (Legal) Privacy Policy List Building Mistakes That Can Get You In Hot Water With The FTC Today – Resulting In Your Business Being Shut Down… And How To Solve It!<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Here are some of the things you\u2019ll discover on the training:<\/span><\/p>\n