Native advertising is a relatively new practice that is rather controversial. It is also booming!!!!! On the one hand, beleaguered publishers — print and online — are able to generate more ad dollars. On the other hand, consumers may not recognize that material that looks like a regular story is really a disguised ad.
With regard to online native advertising, HubShout puts it this way:
“Native advertising has been proven to be a solid strategy for online companies looking for a new way to distribute their content. It’s being adopted by the largest of publishers, and becoming a largely lucrative and successful method of advertising, making it the biggest internet marketing trend this year. As your eye flows down the Web page, you move from ‘native content’ into something that has been sponsored with less distinction. There’s a less abrupt transition, and that’s, hence the name, native advertising.”
HubSpot has published a FREE book — What is Native Advertising and How Does It Impact Consumers? — that is available for download.
It has also produced the statistical infographic on native advertising shown below.
