The hardworking staff at kissin’ cousin Campaign Outsider has long chronicled the vagaries of WordPress in a series themed Don’t Look a Gift Host in the Mouth.

Now it’s the hardtracking staff’s turn.

From paidContent:

 

Where WordPress is headed: Longform content, curation and maybe even native ads

WordPress is a content company, CEO Matt Mullenweg stressed in a panel Saturday at SXSW Interactive — and longform content is an area that the company is especially interested in. That could include native ads.

“All the stuff that’s done really well on mobile has been incredibly short form and easily scannable,” Mullenweg told AllThingsD’s Kara Swisher. “I think there’s a space … to sit down and read something longer than a couple of seconds. Rather than the coffee line experience, what’s the sitting-down-in-the-back experience? We’re going to keep experimenting.”

 

Really scary statement: “WordPress is taking steps to surface more of its users’ content. ‘We’ve been working a lot on wordpress.com to create an interesting reading experience,’ [Mullenweg] said. The site’s “Freshly Pressed” feed surfaces content from across users’ blogs.”

Got that? “Surfaces content.”

Translation: Sucks your posts like bone marrow.

Exhibit A:

 

 

But don’t despair yet. Also from paidContent:

 

Feds issue rules for social media and small screen ads — Twitter and bloggers take note

The Federal Trade Commission issued new guidelines on Tuesday to encourage better disclosures in online ads. The rules, intended to protect consumers from confusion, come at a time when so-called “content marketing” and “native advertising” are soaring in popularity.

The FTC announced the rules in a release stating the agency has updated its 2000 guide, “Dotcom Dislosures,” in order to take account of smaller media screens and the rise of social marketing.

The agency emphasized that traditional disclosure rules, which cover media like radio and television, apply to all forms of the online space as well. These longstanding rules prevent marketers from hiding key terms of an offer and require them to reveal if someone has been paid to endorse a product.

 

Good start. Now let’s see if the FTC can finish.

 

John R. Carroll is media analyst for NPR's Here & Now and senior news analyst for WBUR in Boston. He also writes at Campaign Outsider and It's Good to Live in a Two-Daily Town.
John R. Carroll has 305 post(s) on Sneak Adtack