National Advertising Division: Makers Must Also Follow Native Ad Disclosure Rules

Third-party publishers of headlines and images at the bottom of news articles that link to "recommended stories" must more clearly label "sponsored content," the National Advertising Division said.

The NAD's recommendation focused on Taboola, one of several companies that place headlines and images on publishers' websites -- usually below or next to news stories -- that link to a combination of advertising and editorial content on that site or other sites. Companies like Taboola get paid when a reader clicks on a link; they share that money with the publisher. These links are part of a "recommendation widget," which adopts the look of the site where it appears. For that reason, the Interactive Advertising Bureau considers such widgets a form of native advertising. Taboola's widget carries one of two labels in small, light gray font: "promoted content" when all the stories are editorial in nature and "sponsored content" when they're a mix of promotional and editorial. Above the widgets, an additional -- and indeed bolder -- label might say "Recommended Videos," "More in the News," "We Recommend," "You Might Also Like" and so on.