The Atlantic’s Scientology Ad
The Atlantic ran an ad/article in 2013 titled “David Miscavige Leads Scientology to Milestone Year." Though the article was labeled “Sponsor Content,” many readers took issue with the promotional piece for what many believe is a cult. The Atlantic quickly pulled the article and issued an apology, though it is still considered a classic native advertising mistake.
Now that you know what to look for, you can probably spot both great and terrible native advertising examples next time you’re browsing the internet. Though many publishers have over time improved how they incorporate native advertising onto their websites, bad examples of native ads are still out there.