Dive Brief:

• According to a recent survey by Contently, just over half of readers don't trust sponsored content and 59% say a site loses credibility when it runs articles paid for by a brand. 
• Only half of the 542 readers surveyed, however, were clear about what "sponsored content" is. 
• The majority of respondents claimed to prefer banner ads over native ads. 

Dive Insight: 

The survey is a bit small, so it's hard to use the results as a blanket for all readers, but it does seem to ring true to what the industry is experiencing. Readers aren't sure what sponsored content or native ads really are and it's human nature to fear or dislike something you don't understand. The preference for banner ads probably stems from what every publisher knows — banner ads are easily ignored. Readers don't mind banner ads because they have learned to ignore them.