The federal government has repeatedly advised both advertisers and celebrities that it’s against the law for someone to advertise a product without disclosing that it’s an ad or that the celeb was compensated. Yet it looks like reality TV’s most well-known family either didn’t get that memo or is choosing to ignore it. [More]
ADS
L.L. Bean Runs Full-Page Ad You Can Only Read In Sunlight
By 9.22.17
In a move that simultaneously evokes awww-neat childhood memories of “invisible ink” while also marketing an outdoor lifestyle brand, L.L. Bean has taken out a full-page newspaper ad that can only be read in the sunlight. [More]
Feds Warn Lindsay Lohan, Sofia Vergara & Other Instagram Celebs To Stop Their Stealth Social Advertising
By 9.14.17
The Federal Trade Commission has warned dozens of advertisers against using Instagram “influencers” to push their products and brands without properly disclosing that money changed hands. Now the FTC is going after the celebrities themselves, issuing warning letters to folks that range from merely online-famous to bona fide superstars. [More]
Google’s Tracking Of Offline Spending Sparks Call For Federal Investigation
By 7.31.17
Google recently announced a suite of new tools for advertisers, allowing them to link a customer’s offline credit card purchases with the things they look at online. Shockingly, some privacy advocates think this sort of tracking goes too far and have called on the federal government to investigate. [More]
The ‘Infinite Campaign’ Creates Absurdly Specific Twitter Ads Based On Your Supposed Interests
By 7.5.17
We may be getting used to seeing targeted online ad campaigns based on our browsing history and social media interactions, but what about ads that are literally nothing more than generic statements of what Twitter’s ad-targeting algorithm thinks about us? [More]
Google Will Stop Scanning The Contents Of Your Gmail Messages To Sell Ads
By 6.23.17
If you use one of Google’s many services then you’ve probably come to the realization that the tech company has a lot of your personal information and data, which it uses to sell ads. Now, after years of debate on whether or not it’s okay for Google to read users’ private emails, the tech giant says it will stop scanning Gmail messages, but only for the purpose of personalizing ads. [More]
Google Rolling Out A Chrome Ad Blocker, Putting Web Publishers On Notice
By 6.2.17
You know that feeling of relief and serenity that comes with a web-browsing experience free of annoying popups, auto-play video ads, and screen-dominating interstitials? As predicted, Google is planning to launch a new ad blocker on Chrome next year in an effort to clean up the internet. [More]
Hormel Worried People Will Confuse ‘Black Label’ Beggin’ Strips With Its Real Bacon
By 5.30.17 — Updated: 6.1.17
Hormel makes bacon for human consumption, while Nestlé Purina makes bacon — or Beggin’ Strips — for dogs. The bacon and Beggin’ worlds have generally played nice with each other, but then Purina came out with “Black Label” Beggin’ Strips, which hits too close to home for Hormel. [More]
McDonald’s Pulls Ad Suggesting That Filet-O-Fish Can Cure A Child’s Grief
By 5.17.17
You know that McDonald’s ad where the fast food chain implies that the best way for a child to get over the loss of a loved one is to scrarf down a square fish patty on a bun? It’s been pulled, for reasons that should be immediately clear if you read that first sentence. [More]
Google Blocks Burger King Whopper Ad From Triggering Google Home
By 4.13.17
Well, that was quick: Soon after Burger King launched a new ad designed to force any Google Home devices within range to wake up and spit out a list of the Whopper’s ingredients, Google has apparently disabled the functionality that triggers the devices. [More]
Comcast To Discontinue Some Ads That Take Aim At DirecTV
By 4.4.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Seven months after Comcast was warned by an ad watchdog to check itself before wrecking itself when it came to badmouthing DirectTV, the same organization has recommended that the cable behemoth discontinue ads that allegedly exaggerate its rival’s problem with satellite signal interruptions. [More]
Verizon, AT&T Pull Ads From Google, YouTube After Ads Run Next To Offensive Videos
By 3.23.17
Days after Google began apologizing to advertisers that stopped running YouTube ads after learning their brands were being featured alongside offensive and hateful videos, Verizon and AT&T say they are also pulling the plug on ads with the tech giant. [More]
Google Apologizes To McDonald’s, BBC, For Running Their Ads Alongside Offensive YouTube Clips
By 3.20.17
Google is apologizing to some very big companies that stopped running YouTube ads after learning that their brands were being featured alongside offensive and hateful videos. [More]
Wegmans Changes Price-Comparison Signs After Costco Complaint
By 2.27.17
Price-comparison ads at Wegmans will soon be getting a bit of a makeover following an ad watchdog’s suggestion that the grocer modify in-store displays in response to a Costco complaint that the low-cost price comparisons were misleading and false. [More]
YouTube Does Everyone A Favor, Kills Off 30-Second Unskippable Pre-Roll Ads
By 2.17.17
You know the moment: You’ve just spent the last few minutes telling your friends how great — nay! — how utterly life-changing this video you watched last night and how they just have to watch it immediately. Your audience primed, you find it on YouTube, hit “Play”… and then everyone is forced to watch a 30-second ad that cannot be skipped. Buzz. Kill. [More]
Independent Auditors Will Check Facebook Ad Displays Down To The Millisecond
By 2.10.17
You can’t blame companies that run advertisements on Facebook for being a bit suspicious after the social media platform has acknowledged problems with over-estimating how long users interact with videos and how much time users spend reading Instant Articles and interacting with brand pages. Now the company will submit to an outside audit of that advertising data. [More]
Facebook Testing Ads In ‘Messenger’ App
By 1.26.17
The ads, they’re coming for you. Or at least they are if you use Facebook’s Messenger app to communicate with your friends. [More]
It’s Impossible To Shut Off The Ads That Make Fake News Stories Profitable
By 12.9.16
Sometimes the stories are political; other times they’re too intriguing not to share, with tempting pieces of celebrity news. “That can’t possibly be true,” we say when seeing a headline that, say, Hillary Clinton and Yoko Ono have been lovers for years. You click, and advertisements load on the site, benefiting its creators… and the ad networks that profit. [More]
