Will The FTC Issue Native Advertising Guidelines In 2015?

As we previously reported last year, native advertisements represent an increasingly popular and effective means of promotion for marketers that also presents a major challenge for the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC"), an organization whose primary duty is to protect consumers from false and misleading advertising.  Native advertising, also known as corporate content or branded journalism, features marketing material that is designed to mimic the look and feel of the host website.  While the look of native advertisements differs depending on the host website, the underlying goal for marketers is the same — to make the advertisement look and feel like editorial content. 

In an effort to fully understand and address the issues surrounding this new style of digital marketing, the FTC hosted a workshop in December 2013 entitled "Blurred Lines."  The workshop recognized that the FTC is tasked with balancing two competing interests, namely transparency for consumers