Flicking through a copy of the Irish Times someone had discarded in a cafe the other day I came across this half page spread. At first glance it appeared to be ‘news’, but without a name to go with the article and the words ‘Commercial Report’ emblazoned above in tiny writing, it seems the article is actually an advertisement. I thought this kind of thing was only done in the Metro Herald.
MEDIABITE 
Nope, standard practice in all the papers and magazines. You see it abroad also in magazines like the Economist or Wired.
As Piaras says advertorials are standard practice.
Thanks, can’t believe I’ve not noticed up until now. Although I rarely buy a copy.
‘Commercial Report’ is a pretty woolly disclaimer, if it weren’t for the banner ad below I probably wouldn’t have noticed.
I wonder what the effectiveness versus cost of these are in comparison to a half page ad. You’d imagine since they’re paying for the illusion of ‘authoritative’ content it’d be much more effective. But whether people read it or not depends on how much they succeed in tricking them its not an ad.