The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released an enforcement policy yesterday that outlines which forms of native advertising it deems acceptable and which it deems deceptive. This new policy means many leading native ad platforms will need to modify their current widget labels and disclosures.

Adiant, owner of the Adblade native advertising platform and a long-time proponent of proper labeling, was pleased with the decision that that Native Ad Widgets should be labeled with the words “Ads” or “Advertisement” above each of the ad units. The decision supported Adblade’s long-held internal policy, which was clearly backed up by the FTC’s Enforcement Policy Statement on Deceptively Formatted Advertisements. 

Adblade is the only major native content recommendation company to have proactively and consistently utilized the FTC approved widget labeling guidelines for the past several years.  Other leading providers have only recently (and some would say reluctantly) began to change their disclosures, often using terms such as “Sponsored by” or “Promoted Stories”, which the FTC states are potentially confusing to consumers.

Adblade is proud to have once again proactively led the Native Advertising industry, which it helped pioneer in 2008, by consistently advocating for clear and prominent advertising disclosures on native widgets as well as advertiser landing pages. The guidelines make it clear that everyone who participates directly or indirectly in creating or presenting native ads is held accountable, including ad tech companies and publishers.

We look forward to seeing the rest of the native advertising industry change their widget labels to include words such as “Ad” or “Advertising” above their widgets as well.

We have worked with thousands of different advertisers over the years here at Adblade, and seen many different websites and landing pages. We’ve learned a few things about what works, and what fails miserably. Here are a few things you should always avoid:

• Make wild claims about your product or service – It’s, almost always, better to under promise and over deliver when it comes to your product or service. Making huge claims initially might make you a quick sale, but your customer will be disappointed in the long run. Always think about the lifetime value of a customer, and be willing to trade a quick bump in sales for a happy life long customer.

• Writing for search engines and not for people – Even if you’re creating a web page exclusively for SEO traffic, you always need to keep people first. Nothing turns away people quicker than a heavily optimized, keyword-stuffed page. This is especially important if you’re sending paid online traffic to the page.

• Not listening to your customer – If you’re going to have a page on Facebook, Twitter, or other social sites, listen and interact with your customers. A bunch of unanswered complaints or suggestions on a social page screams that your company doesn’t care about its customers. This is an easy way to lose credibility.

• Not focusing on the customers’ benefits – Remember, your website is not about you, it’s for your customer. Always try and answer the question: “What’s in it for them.?”