Sunday evening on Last Week Tonight, host John Oliver devoted a segment to explaining native advertising, a tactic of online media companies (including all Gawker Media properties*) that makes it harder to differentiate sponsored content from reported articles.
As Oliver points out, native advertising has its pros and cons. On one hand, an effective news organization cannot be run for free and sponsors help keep the lights on and employees paid. On the other, quietly sneaking in sponsored content can destroy trust with readers and, in worst case scenarios, be entirely unethical.