According to Ofcom, the U.K.'s communication regulations commission, almost one-third of British adolescents can't tell the difference between an ad and a bonafide, nonadvertorial answer—when using Google's search engine, that is. 

Ofcom conducted a study in which participants between the ages of 12 and 15 were asked to identify whether the search engine results that appeared at the top of their Google page (i.e., screenshots they were shown of Google results) were either relevant, popular, or just plain old ad links. Despite the fact that the results-in-question were bordered by an orange box and labeled with the word "ad," an overwhelming 31 percent of respondents did not recognize it as a cookie-fueled marketing campaign, with 19 percent believing that the highlighted results were the most accurate. 

In the end, the Internet doesn't seem to make a whit of difference when the human quality in question has to do with perception and/or common sense. "The Internet allows children to learn, discover different points of view and stay connected with friends and family," said James Thickett, Ofcom's director of research. "But these digital natives still need help to develop the know-how they need to navigate the online world."

The study also found that for the first time in history, teens and tweens prefer watching YouTube than tuning into traditional television. More than half couldn't tell the difference between a nonendorsed vlog and a vlogger dropping some product placement into his or her vid. 

But don't worry, there's no need to cry foul (or "brainwash!") just quite yet: the U.K.'s Advertising Standards Authority has already started banning clips on YouTube that don't explicitly state their paid-for content status. And in the U.S., the Federal Trade Commission has begun to constructively respond to complaints filed against Google's YouTube app, which allegedly "blurs the lines between ads and original content," according to The Verge. 

Via: The Verge

Photo: Karl Norling | Flickr