Native advertising. Because consumers have become more adept at skipping or blocking advertising, marketers have become more creative and covert, said Mara Einstein, a professor at Queens College at CUNY and author of “Black Ops Advertising.”

Native advertising refers to any paid product pitch that’s designed to resemble a publication’s editorial content. Because it looks like content that readers trust, they are more apt to let down their guard, Einstein said in an interview.

“In the digital space, advertisers are able to hide,” she added. “You don’t know you are reading something with a sponsor behind it.”

Einstein recommends limiting notifications from legitimate news sources, especially on your smartphone, which, in turn, will reduce the time you spend online and reduce your exposure to ads pretending to be news. She also suggests using browser plug-ins like Ghostery and Disconnect to block websites from tracking you.

Read the full article at the Washington Post.