On December 22, 2015, The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released the Enforcement Policy Statement on Deceptively Formatted Advertisements, explaining how established consumer protection principles apply to different advertising formats, including native advertisements embedded and surrounded by non-advertising content.

In the enforcement policy statement, the FTC explains the general principles it considers in determining whether an ad format is deceptive and violates the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC Act). The enforcement policy reaffirms the FTC's continued expansion into the protection of digital consumers, applying general consumer protection principles to online native advertising, including on social media.

On the same day, the FTC also released Native Advertising: A Guide for Business to help companies understand and comply with the policy statement in the context of native advertising. The guidance gives examples of when disclosures are necessary to prevent deception and clarifies how to make clear and prominent disclosures in the native ad format.

For more information on FTC enforcement, see Practice Note, FTC Consumer Protection Investigations and Enforcement.