[johndoez]

Influencer marketing will boom with the launch of social commerce. But startups need to be careful about advertising regulation. If someone has paid for a promotion, then it will have to be tagged as such, like Sponsored Ad.

[Guyag]

I don't think tagging with something like #ad or #sponsored does nearly enough, especially if hidden amongst a bunch of other tags. (edit: And #sp - are you kidding me?) Traditional ads are obvious through specific placement on the page (sidebars) and/or a prominent "Advertisement" or "Sponsored" label and/or moreover simply having the general look and feel of a 'traditional' advert.

When your favourite media personality is gushing about some product it's really easy to forget it's an advert and they're being paid for it. I know that's what makes it great for marketing purposes, but it feels seriously dishonest and (to me) represents a decline in our standards.

[Freak_NL]

These type of advertisements are already garnering interest from national regulators. One reason is that a lot of these influencers have a lot of children and teens amongst their followers (think beauty vloggers on YouTube). Most countries have laws regulating advertising aimed at minors. By using popular social media channels brands can circumvent this limitation by simply buying advertising space from local influencers with predominantly teen or pre-teen follower demographics.