New York—Advertisements that attempt to appear as content, dubbed “native ads,” tend to have a negative effect on a company's brand, according to a study by social and mobile advertising company MediaBrix.
The study, conducted online in October with 2,516 respondents, found that 62% of those who had seen Twitter promoted tweets in the past 12 months said the ads negatively affected or had no impact on their perception of the brand being advertised. SImilarly, 72% viewing Facebook sponsored stories had the same reaction, as did 85% of those viewing sponsored video ads that appeared to be content. Large proportions of these respondents found these ads to be misleading, according to the study.
“While anyone pushing the native ad agenda or otherwise would agree that we need to provide user experiences that are not jarring or disruptive, we also need to ensure that we are direct and honest with consumers about when they are being marketed to,” said Ari Brandt, MediaBrix CEO, in a statement. “Some formats achieve this better than others.”
