Mowing the Digital Landscape

You find them in print media all the time.  Full page advertisements that look and feel more like an article.  They are everywhere from fashion magazines to in-flight periodicals, discussing the benefits of age defying cover ups and traveling to Chicago for the weekend.  Well, the advertorial has finally made its way on to the digital landscape. 

The rebirth of the advertorial began in 2002, when Sony announced it would be launching a $10 million online campaign leveraging the medium.  The content included first-person informational accounts, written by real consumers, with related links to Sony products near or at the bottom of the copy. There was a minor uproar when sites such as NYTimes.com and CBS MarketWatch refused to carry the piece because it looked too much like an actual article. 

Despite concerns from the FCC, consumer watch dogs as well as a scarcity of standard rate card prices for advertorials, they are popping up more and more online.  For example, I was recently surfing the Food Network’s Web site and clicked on a link for ham recipes.  I was immediately redirected to the Cook’s Ham site, where I could find details on preparing an entire family meal, with most of the dishes featuring Cook’s product. 

As a marketing professional, I was instantly aware that I had left the Food Network site and that I was now on Cook’s virtual real estate.  The problem is that according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, search ads are still unrecognized as paid content by 62 percent of users.  As I’ve mentioned before on this blog, transparency is key.  People looking for ham recipes may not care that the ones they find are being presented by a company that processes ham.  But they might.  The Food Network, and other companies that sell advertorial space on their Web sites, should utilize a name convention such as Google’s sponsored links.  That way consumers can make a decision early in the process of whether or not they want Cool’s Ham recipe or one from Paula Dean.