FTC chief to address ‘native advertising’ at town hall meeting

Federal Trade Commission chairwoman Edith Ramirez will take the FTC’s first look at so-called “native advertising” at a town hall meeting slated for Dec. 4 in Washington, DC.

It is expected to draw everyone from advertisers to publishers and public relations firms.

Native advertising has been the buzz word of the ad world in recent years — helping BuzzFeed turn its first-ever profit this year and encouraging Forbes Media to recently put itself up for sale.

Native advertising is generally an ad presented in a story format and paid for by a sponsor who controls the copy. It has raised concerns as it makes the lines between editorial and ads fuzzier.

The FTC town hall session is billing itself as “blurred lines: advertising or content?”

Randall Rothenberg, head of the Interactive Advertising Bureau, said one of the tasks at hand will be determining exactly what people mean by the term. He said the IAB is working on its first-ever white paper on the topic ,which he expects to be released shortly before the meeting.

“There is always a concern that consumers should know when they are seeing an advertisement — and when they are not,” said Elizbeth Lordan, an FTC spokeswoman.