Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

Eagle-eyed readers may notice a new feature here on Re/code today. It’s called “Sponsor Content,” and is, for us, a new form of advertising. Known broadly as “native advertising,” this is a category of ad that takes the form of an article written by, or commissioned by, an advertiser. It’s widely used online, but the technique actually goes back well before the Web, when print publications ran articles written by advertisers that were called “advertorials.”

Some websites might try to present these ads as if they were normal posts written by their reporters, editors, or curated guest contributors. We won’t be doing that. You’ll notice that we clearly label them “Sponsor Content” with a blue label instead of our usual black one. We also use the company logo next to the writer’s byline, and, at the bottom of each such post, include a disclosure statement saying that the article is a form of advertising, and was neither written by, nor edited by, our journalists.

That doesn’t mean these pieces are bad, or unworthy of your time. It doesn’t mean we are embarrassed to post them. In fact, we hope you will find them interesting. It just means we want to keep faith with you by making things clear.