Hasta La Creative!

The New York Times has shrunk the labels that distinguish articles bought by advertisers from articles generated in its newsroom and made the language in the labels less explicit.

The Times became only the latest online publisher to begin selling so-called native ads when it introduced its Paid Posts in January, adopting a tactic meant to draw readers to ads by making them more or less resemble the surrounding editorial content. A bit of reader confusion over what’s an ad is inherent.

But the Times has repeatedly stressed the importance of clearly labeling its native ads as paid promotions. And when its Paid Posts first appeared, the labels were arguably the most stringent in all of publishing. A Paid Post from Dell, for instance, is surrounded on all sides by a thick blue border that includes a label at the top saying, “Paid For And Posted By Dell.” Just underneath that message, the Dell logo appeared in a darker blue bar running the width of the post. The Dell logo appeared again nearby, next to the author’s name.

Continue reading at AdAge.com