Scarlet letters

Perhaps bored with Facebook gossip, some journalists have revived critique over the in-text ad format, reports BusinessWeek.

In-text ads appear as double-underlined words, denoting them as different from standard hyperlinks in website content. When readers mouse over them, the ad-laden words yield a pop-up that then links to an advertiser's landing page.

Journalists affiliated with papers and magazines using these ads argue they blur advertising and editorial lines. The format may encourage positive coverage — since algorithms don't place ads on stories heavy with negative words — or pressure content providers to write stories with a heavy concentration of words advertisers have purchased.

In-text ads have become popular with media companies since, according to Vibrant Media CEO Douglas Stevenson, they have a higher click-through rate than traditional online ads.

That means more money for the publisher, something that's hard to turn down in the face of declining print ad revenue.