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10NativeAdvertisingContinuedfromPage7involvingthePRfirmspaidendorsementsdecep-tivelymasqueradingasnon-sponsoredconsumerreviewstheFTCprovidedguidanceonhowtoproperlydiscloseonaspace-constrainedwebsitethatthepersonpostingarevieworcommentisapaidendorserfortheproductandthatconsumersshouldnotexpecttohavethesameexperienceasthepaidendorser.7TheFTChasalsoissuedguidanceregardinganotheriterationofnativeadvertisingi.e.theintegrationofpaid-forcontentinsearchengineresults.In2002theFTCsBureauofConsumerProtectionpublishedaletterrecommendingthatallsearchen-ginecompaniesreviewtheirwebsitestoensurethat1paidresultsaredistinguishedfromnon-paidre-sultswithclearandconspicuousdisclosures2theuseofpaidinclusioninasearchenginesindexisclearlyandconspicuouslydisclosedand3noaf-firmativestatementismadethatmightmisleadcon-sumersastothebasisonwhichasearchresultisgenerated.8Morerecentlyin2013theFTCrevisit-edtheissueinletterssenttogeneralpurposeandspecializedsearchengines.9InthoseletterstheFTCnotedamongotherthingsthatpaidsearchresultshadbecomelessdistinguishableasadvertisinges-peciallyforadvertisinglocatedimmediatelyabovethenaturalresultstopads.10SpecificallytheFTCrecommendedthatsearchenginesusemoreprominentshadingclearoutlinesandprominentbordersasmeanstodistinguishtopadsorotherpaidcontentfromthenaturalsearchresults.11TheFTCstatedthatinadditiontothesevisualdifferentiatorssearchenginesshouldalsoutilizeconspicuousandconsistenttextlabelsthatunambiguouslydifferenti-atebetweensponsoredandnon-sponsoredsearchresults.12Inadditiontoissuingtheabove-describedunfortunatelynarrowguidanceonafewaspectsofnativeadvertisingtheFTCalsoheldaworkshopinDecember2013tobroadentheFTCsunder-standingoftheissuessurroundingnativeadvertis-ing.13TothisendtheworkshopincludedavarietyofpresentationsfromindustrystakeholderslegalanalystsandFTCrepresentatives.Thecontentofthosepresentationsunderscoredtheuncertainterrainonwhichnativeadvertiserstread.Indeedwhileworkshopparticipantsgenerallyagreedthattrans-parencyanddisclosuresareimportanttheycontest-edthespecifics.Forexampleduringthepaneldis-cussionregardingbestpracticesforwrittendisclo-surespanelistsdisagreedabouttheappropriateter-minologytobeemployedsponsoredvs.presentedbyvs.FromAroundtheWebvs.YouMayAlsoEnjoyvs.othersandhowcon-sumersarelikelytounderstandcertainterms.14InclosingacknowledgingthecomplexityofissuinggeneralguidancethedirectoroftheBureauofCon-sumerProtectionstatedthatnativeadvertisingtakesmanyformsanditmaynotbepossibletocraftasin-gledefinitionorsolution.15TheFTChasyettoissuepoliciesasaresultoftheworkshopbuthasindicat-edthatnativeadvertisingissubjecttoenforcementbasedonexistinglaw.16UnwillingandunablefromapracticalstandpointtowaitfordefinitiveguidancefromtheFTCsomeindustrieshaveproactivelydevelopedtheirownguidelinesandbestpractices.17TheInteractiveAd-vertisingBureauIABhasdoneexactlythatde-claringthatforpaidnativeadunitsclarityandprominenceofthedisclosureisparamountidenti-fyingsixtypesofnativeadvertisementsandoffer-ingexamplesofdisclosurelanguagemostcommon-lyusedforeachtypeofad.18ForexampletheIABnotesthatpromotedlistingsi.e.adsofferinganadvertisersproductorshowcasingitsbrandinamanneridenticaltolistingsforotherproductsof-feredonthewebsitearetypicallydisclosedbywordssuchasAdsSponsoredProductsandProductAdsfromExternalWebsites.19Addition-allytheIABnotedthatinadditiontolanguageshadingorothervisualcuesassociatedwithnativeadsmanypublishersalsoincludeadditionaldisclo-surecuessuchasaseparateroll-overlinkusinglan-guagesuchasWhatsthistoprovidethecon-sumerwithadditionalinformationontheoriginofthecontentinthead.20Howeverbecauseoftherapidlyevolvingnativeadvertisinglandscapeandtheshiftingperceptionsofconsumerswhoarebe-comingmorefamiliarwithdifferenttypesofnativeadvertisingtheIABconcludedthatitisnotpossi-ContinuedonPage11