Real News and Sponsored Articles: Distinguish them with this Checklist

Criteria

Examples

A popular social media account creates a post that contains any of the following hashtags: #advertisement, #sponsored, #collaboration, #partnership, #ad, #sp, #collab, #partner, #paid, #spon

The last hashtag is typically the one that reveals it's an ad.

There's a company name or logo in the byline (where an author's name appears).

On Axios, ads are short, placed in-between articles, and look exactly like a typical article, except for the company logo and the words "Sponsored by."

BuzzFeed uses a similar style – and under the company logo it also says "Brand Publisher".

The following language appears on a post page: "Sponsored by," "Presented by," "Content by," "Promoted by," "Brought to you by" or "In partnership with" followed by a company's name.

One particular Eater feature says, "Sponsored by American Express." Even so, the videos appear to be independent editorial content. A disclaimer at the bottom of the page, however, states that editorial staff were not involved in the creation of this content.

The words "Paid Placement," "Paid for by," or "Paid Content" appear anywhere on the page.

Even though it's some of the clearest language to indicate an ad, it's sometimes the most difficult to spot.

Criteria

Examples

The article has a different background color online than most other articles on the site.

Nonwhite backgrounds are sometimes an additional indicator that an article is sponsored. It's a subtle clue, and you'll need to check off another piece of criteria to confirm that such a post is indeed an ad.

The content is "Supported by" a brand.

"Supported by" is tricky, because it can sometimes mean that the content is editorially independent but that a separate group helped fund its production.

Be wary, though, because this language could also be another way of saying content was paid for by a brand. So if the content promotes the brand and is also "supported by" that brand, it probably can be considered an advertisement.

A post from an influencer thanks a brand for something and/or encourages followers to check out the brand.

Lately, celebrity endorsers have taken to simply thanking a company in a post to imply that some sort of exchange of goods occurred with the brand.

A video contains references to a product, and at the end or beginning of the video, a logo of the product shows up onscreen.

Social videos often promote a product simply by featuring it in a story. If a clear logo shows up at the beginning or end, though, there likely was some payment exchanged.