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Paid influencers must label some posts as ads, German court rules

reuters.com

101–110 of 184 posts

Re: Paid influencers must label some posts as ads, German court rules

#101
post #82

Why does YouTube or Instagram tolerate sponsored content? They don't get a cut from a sponsored video or product placement, and their dominance in the advertising space means this is also cutting into their ad revenue.

Youtube and instagram still place their own ads on sponsored content. I see it as youtube and instagram saving on labor costs since the sponsored posts are paying the influencer who ultimately drives engagement to the actual first party advertisements that make these platforms their real money. Just look at what gets posted as a sponsored post vs a first party advertisement and you can see its an entirely different b…

> Youtube and instagram still place their own ads on sponsored content

The ‘skip advert’ button… should it skip the YouTube inserted sponsored content, or move to the end of the video entirely?

Re: Paid influencers must label some posts as ads, German court rules

#102
post #44

US law already requires influencers to disclose ads. (And the FTC says that US law includes foreigners whose audience is reasonably likely to include Americans) https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/dis...

What happens when these foreigners don't?

Re: Paid influencers must label some posts as ads, German court rules

#103
post #44

US law already requires influencers to disclose ads. (And the FTC says that US law includes foreigners whose audience is reasonably likely to include Americans) https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/dis...

What happens when these foreigners don't?

"Fuck around and find out"

AKA Absolutely nothing until your actions affect the wrong entity

Re: Paid influencers must label some posts as ads, German court rules

#104
post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its Germany. They dont make assumptions about anything unless its in the rule book, as a rule.

> They dont make assumptions about anything unless its in the rule book, as a rule. I'm curious. Is this in any German rulebook? (I secretly want it to be).

The secret rule book was lost during WW1 which is why thinks went so out of hand afterwards.

(Sorry for the bad joke, but as a German the though that there is a secret rule book which was lost in WW1 had me rolling, I just have no idea why??)

> Is this in any German rulebook?

Idk. but I feel that:

- State organs often act as if it's the case.

- Politicians often do some many (bad/wrong) assumptions hat I feel it would be better if it would be the case.

Re: Paid influencers must label some posts as ads, German court rules

#105
post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its Germany. They dont make assumptions about anything unless its in the rule book, as a rule.

> They dont make assumptions about anything unless its in the rule book, as a rule. I'm curious. Is this in any German rulebook? (I secretly want it to be).

[deleted]

Re: Paid influencers must label some posts as ads, German court rules

#106
post #44

US law already requires influencers to disclose ads. (And the FTC says that US law includes foreigners whose audience is reasonably likely to include Americans) https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/dis...

The law is gutless. Spend like 30s on any Youtube channel. I really wish they'd actually enforce this one.

"This phone really shows fingerprints, so I would knock it down a notch, except this easily fixed with this dope x brand skin, so it's ok!"

Re: Paid influencers must label some posts as ads, German court rules

#107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But they would earn more money from regular ad revenue, presumably. You're painting a rather bleak picture -- that the majority of creators/influencers' content is advertising. If that's the case, I'm not sure why Youtube/Instagram should also tolerate that -- it's basically spam on their platform they haven't curated through their ad network.

Spam is something nobody wants. The influencers videos quite some people want to see despite their sneaky ads. So youtube gets views, too.

> Spam is something nobody wants.

Spam is something the recipient doesn't want. What is or isn't spam is subjectively determined by each individual recipient. If spam were strictly determined by what nobody wants, requiring complete consensus, then nothing would be spam because in a world of 7 billion people there will always be one nut who welcomes the unrequested solicitation.

Re: Paid influencers must label some posts as ads, German court rules

#108

I just assume that any time any product is promoted, that the person is a potential shill. It may be a cynical view, but I find it a cleaner metric than trusting the poster to disclose whether they are getting compensated for mentioning a product.

Sure, but there are many people/followers who are new to some industry/products.

I mean Im the same way, but have recently gotten into a new hobby where I was searching a bit to figure out my "first purchase." It was hard to find genuine content/reviews/suggestions. It's easy to stay clear of the affiliate/SEO sites, but it's really hard to parse what is sponsored or not in expert/influencer content.

Re: Paid influencers must label some posts as ads, German court rules

#109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sponsored content is the main income for creators, so if a platform banned it there would be a mass exodus and they'd lose their dominance.

But they would earn more money from regular ad revenue, presumably. You're painting a rather bleak picture -- that the majority of creators/influencers' content is advertising. If that's the case, I'm not sure why Youtube/Instagram should also tolerate that -- it's basically spam on their platform they haven't curated through their ad network.

> that the majority of creators/influencers' content is advertising.

Advertising embedded in the content as sponsor callouts and similar (often paying way better then YT ad sense), this includes showcases of sponsored content and similar.

Which if it's properly labeled is not a problem.

But as far as I know many big YT channels can NOT live from YT ad sense/network money. Some won't even get any at all due to YouTubes (IMHO overreaching) classification of content into advertisement friendly or not.

Re: Paid influencers must label some posts as ads, German court rules

#110
post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But they would earn more money from regular ad revenue, presumably. You're painting a rather bleak picture -- that the majority of creators/influencers' content is advertising. If that's the case, I'm not sure why Youtube/Instagram should also tolerate that -- it's basically spam on their platform they haven't curated through their ad network.

Youtube et al tolerate it because these influencers posts ultimately mean more eyes are fixed on the platform to watch the actual first party advertisements. Having these influencers rely on third party sponsored posts for their funding means that youtube doesn't have to pay them very much at all.

And they can eventually change terms to charge a percentage, maybe only on the biggest channels for ease of enforcement, like record labels eventually started doing with concert tickets and merch.
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