The New York Times is going “native.”
Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. sent a letter to staffers on Thursday acknowledging that the native ads can be controversial but said the company was going to launch its version of native advertising or branded content.
Sulzberger described the move as a way to allow advertisers “to put extended content in front of readers in the form of information, commerce or story” and said it would run with the words “Paid Post” in a different typeface and color bar to alert readers.
“We expect that native advertising will play a part in helping restore digital advertising revenue growth — something we need to do to support our investment in the journalism of the New York Times,” Sulzberger said.
Native advertising is sponsor-generated content created to mimic reporter-generated content.
The Times had signaled it was heading this way when it hired Meredith Kopit Levien from Forbes as an executive vice president to spearhead the effort. Forbes estimates it is already drawing about 20 percent of its ad revenue from native advertising and expects to see a 50 percent increase in 2014.
The ads have drawn the attention of Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Edith Ramirez, who warned the agency will be keeping a careful eye on the products to make sure consumers are not being illegally deceived.
Ad agencies are under tremendous pressure to form new ways of reaching consumers with commercial messages, and they think native advertising can solve the riddle.
Sulzberger acknowledged that “native advertising is relatively new and can be controversial” because it can blur the lines between journalism and advertising.
“We are all determined that this will not happen at The Times and we believe we have put all necessary safeguards in place to ensure that it doesn’t,” he wrote.