Dive Brief:

• Google, Disney and other companies are under fire from a new coalition of advocacy groups looking to protect children’s interests from influencer campaigns that has filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) , according to a report from The Washington Post.
• The new group consists of Public Citizen, the Center for Digital Democracy, Commercial Alert and the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and also asked the FTC to look into celebrity influencer marketing late last month.
• The most recent complaint alleges “unfair and deceptive practice” in aiming influencer ads at children. 

Dive Insight:

The use of social media influencers by brands is gaining steam as digital celebrities build impressive audiences. The trend also points to consumers' seemingly insatiable appetite for short, entertaining content on mobile phones. As brands look to build their content strategies, they are relying on influencers as one way to get there quickly. 

However, influencer marketing and sponsored posts have become an area of contention in the online advertising world as complaints mount of a lack of transparency. The need to clearly communicate when content creators are on a brand's payroll is even more relevant when marketing to children.

The main issue the advocacy groups have with influencer marketing is that children don’t have the cognitive ability to separate content from native advertising. The groups point out examples like clips of kids unboxing toys on YouTube and a brother and sister who taste test potato chips and have 27 million views and counting on the platform.

The bigger issue from the FTC’s perspective is that the ads are deceptive to any viewer, and not just children. Advertisers, influencers and creators alike should all work together to ensure that paid content is clearly marked as an advertisement. If that goal can’t be met, the FTC and other governmental groups will increasingly step in with sanctions and additional regulation.