FTC Evaluating Children's Ability To Distinguish Digital Advertisements From Surrounding Content

On August 23, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission announced it will continue to seek additional public comment on how children are increasingly being affected by digital advertising and marketing messages "that may blur the line between ads and entertainment." Marketers increasingly reach children via digital media, including by embedding advertising in video sharing platforms, social media platforms through influencer and celebrity posts, games, virtual worlds, and other digital environments.

For years, marketers and publishers have used innovative methods to create and deliver digital advertising. One form is commonly referred to as "native advertising," a term that denotes advertising content that bears a similarity to the news, feature articles, product reviews, entertainment, and other material that immediately surrounds the advertisement in the digital space. The question then becomes: are consumers able to differentiate advertising from other content? And that