Since the dawn of the Internet, the challenge for online content providers and businesses around the world has been to get users to click on ads. More ad clicks equals more revenue, but the banner ad model was hardly effective for computer screens and virtually impossible in the newer mobile age. Now more advertisers are beginning to embrace a different approach, one that uses sponsored content that looks like real stories but are in fact ads that carry a brand name. And that has some people questioning whether the blurring of lines between legitimate news and sponsored ads is actually a good idea.

The latest marketing tool is called native advertising, basically ads that closely match the style of the site on which they show up. A good example of this can be found in BuzzFeed, a self-styled media site that combines serious editorial content with crazy videos and quizzes. …

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