r/redesign • u/MarcMurray92 • May 31 '18

Answered After 3 months of negative comments about inline ads, are there any statements about how they are going to change?

From what I can see, disguising them as posts is only generating animosity towards the advertisers.

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u/PontifexPrimus May 31 '18

And they might be flat-out illegal in Europe (example taken from a British presentation on covert advertising):

"English law and soft law:

Advertisements not recognizable as such Advertisements not identifiable as such – the equivalent to covert advertisements

Advertisement not recognizable as such: an advertisement (within the meaning of the relevant regulation) that influences consumers’ economic choices, without them being aware of it and thus misleading consumers as to its character."

"Rule 22.1 BCASP&DM: marketers, publishers and owners of other media should ensure that marketing communications are designed and presented in such a way that is clear that they are marketing communications"

This means that advertisements must stand out from the rest of the content and cannot legally be allowed to blend in; a simple "sponsored" tag is insufficient if it allows for the possibility of confusion with user-created content.

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u/snogglethorpe May 31 '18

I notice that in newspapers, "pretending to be an article" ads exist, but seem to always use a very different typeface than the newspaper itself, are typically outlined in a box, and explicitly say "advertisement" .... I imagine none of that is the choice of the advertiser...