Protecting Yourself in an Age of Slimy Advertising
Recognize that much online content is disguised marketing, and use the SIFT method (especially the 'Trace' step) to verify sources and identify sponsored content by looking for disclosure labels like 'sponsored content' or 'brought to you by'.
THE IDEA
Protecting Yourself in an Age of Slimy Advertising
How can you avoid getting bamboozled by stealth ads when they were invented for the sole purpose of bamboozling you? We can’t guarantee you’ll never be fooled. But if you keep a couple of principles in mind, you’ll be fooled a lot less.
First, realize that the internet is one giant marketing experiment. Smart people work overtime to figure out how to sell you stuff without you noticing. When you’re scrolling through your feed and see the headline “New Study Shows the Dangers of Eating Chicken,” for all you know it could be planted by the beef industry. Worse, when these paid stories make their way from the publisher’s website and land on social media, these “stories” slough off any warning label they might’ve carried. To put this another way: deception is not an aberration or bug in the system—it’s how the game is played. You’re scrolling through social media and see a story on, say, the nutritional benefits of coffee. Before you forward it, pause. Please, pause. Ask yourself: Is this what I think it is? Is it a news story by a health reporter, or is it an ad from a company that wants you to go out and order a double tall macchiato? So, remember: Practice the T of SIFT. Click on the link in the card and trace the story back to the reporting source. Once you’re back on the site of the Washington Post, Vice, Slate, CNN, or whomever (sadly, they’re all in on it), clean your glasses. You’ll need your best eyesight for the next move.
Don’t expect to find the word “advertisement” flashing in neon. Instead, be on the lookout for grayish type strategically placed in the upper left-hand corner of the page, where it’s overshadowed by a thirty-two-point headline, a dazzling photo, and an eye-catching infographic. And make sure you’re up to date on the latest menu of weasel words: “sponsored content,” “brand partner,” “presented with,” “in partnership with,” “brought to you by,” “in association with,” “hosted by,” or simply “with.”
When to use it
Evaluating a health-related article shared on Facebook to determine if it is sponsored by a supplement company.
Checking the source of a 'breaking news' story on Twitter that seems too good to be true.
Identifying a blog post that appears neutral but carries a 'presented by' label from a corporate partner.
Deciding whether to forward a viral video about a product's benefits after verifying its original publication context.
FROM THEORY TO EVERYDAY LIFE
In practice
Fake Chicken Study
A social media headline says 'New Study Shows the Dangers of Eating Chicken.' This could be a paid ad planted by the beef industry to discourage chicken consumption, disguised as a legitimate news story.
Coffee Health Benefits
You see a story about the nutritional benefits of coffee. Before sharing, trace the source. It might be an advertisement from a coffee company rather than an independent health report.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Put it to work.
When scrolling through social media, how can you tell if a story is genuine news or a disguised advertisement?
What are some common weasel words used to label sponsored content, and why are they designed to be overlooked?
Why is it important to trace a story back to its original source before sharing or acting on it?
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Source texts
- Verified How to Think Straight, Get Duped Less, and Make Better Decisions about What to Believe Online (Mike Caulfield, Sam Wineburg)