Friday, December 20, 2013

The New York Times Is Going “Native.”

NyPo reports:
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.

2 comments:

  1. What's the fuss about? They've been running native ads for the USG disguised as genuine journalism for decades. I just wish they'd have the guts to put "Paid Post" in front of all those stories too.

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    Replies
    1. My thoughts exactly.
      If you took away the USG propaganda and the private "native" ads, the rag would probably only be left with one or two real articles.
      And those would be confined to the sports section.

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