Three Recent Developments In Native Advertising From The FTC, MMA & OBA

Most recently, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released an Enforcement Policy Statement on Deceptive Formatted Advertisements, and the FTC's policy was supplemented by a Native Advertising Guide for Businesses (Native Advertising Guidelines) outlining why, when and how disclosures should be made when disseminating native advertising and sponsored content. In addition, the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), issued best practice guidelines for native advertisers, and the Online Interest-Based Advertising Accountability Program (OBA), a self regulatory enforcement regime of the Digital Advertising Alliance, published its first cases requiring the AdChoices icon or its equivalent when native advertisements are geared to consumers' personal interests based on their browsing history.