South Park Nails the Evolution of Native Ads

If you think that you are seeing less advertising, think again. Let the guys of South Park explain:

Okay, while people may not be ads (even while their Instagram pages may be), ads are becoming more hidden and the most popular form of that is native advertising.

Outside of advertising circles, few people have a clear fix on what native advertising is. In short, it is sponsored content created to look like the articles and videos that surround it. So, when you read Facebook and it says something like “sponsored” or “Susie Smith recommends XYZ product,” those are native ads. Those are the most obvious. Less overt are the recommended articles that appear at the bottom of so many websites.

Native advertising has taken off because we have become adapt at avoiding advertising in its more traditional forms. Whether it is zipping past commercials on our DVR or using ad blockers online, we do everything in our power not to see commercial content.

Native advertising is not the only form of stealth marketing. There is content marketing, branded journalism, and buzz marketing, to name just a few.