Consumers getting increasingly confused by native advertising

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Consumers are finding it increasingly difficult to differentiate between advertising and editorial content as publishers muddy the waters through their choice of wording and placement, according to new research. A study conducted by the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia found that adverts prefaced as a "brand voice" or "presented by" were far less likely to be identified as paid for content than content labelled "advertising" or "sponsored content".

In all, respondents were seven times less likely to pick up on the former wording. Furthermore, eye-tracking software showed that the position of any disclaimer was also key, with only 40 per cent of readers clocking a disclosure at the top of the page - whilst 90 per cent picked it up "in an outlined box" in the middle of the story and 60 per cent at the bottom. A group of 242 consumers were given 500- to 600-word sample native ads to inform the survey findings.