Updated as of August, 24, 2021
IGN uses certain terminology to describe different levels of advertiser support and involvement in the creation and promotion of content on the IGN websites. There are many different ways of referring to this type of content—including “presented by" content and “native advertising.” Below are some of the descriptions of the disclosure categories that IGN uses as of the date above.
If you see content on the IGN website that does not carry one of these disclosures, it is purely editorial content that was produced by IGN editorial without any advertiser involvement. Advertisers can target ads around content they want to be associated with. That’s why you might see Microsoft ads around a Halo review. However, our critics never have prior knowledge of the ads that will run alongside any pieces they write—if there is no disclosure, there was no advertiser involvement.
Summary of IGN Content Disclosures
Promoted — A advertiser paid for the promotion of a piece of content, such as a trailer. Content eligible for promotion also includes existing IGN editorial content that was created without advertiser involvement. The advertiser pays a fee to IGN to promote in specific locations. The advertiser has no input in the creation or production of the content itself and the promotion is handled by a sales/ad operations team, not editorial.
Presented — Content Custom content underwritten by an advertiser or content where an advertiser paid to receive an onscreen mention.* Both are still created and produced by the editorial team. The advertiser does not have creative control.
Advertisement — Custom content created in partnership with the advertiser that is NOT produced by the editorial team. This may include fact sheets, press releases, or similar advertorial content. Posting and promotion of this non-editorial content is handled by IGN's branded content arm, IGN Studios, and is usually labeled "Special Advertising Section" or "Partner Content."
IGN Staff — Posts bylined “IGN Staff” are written, edited, and constructed by our editorial content team as a group rather than by an individual author. Most often these will be “roundup” features like our recommendations for PC games or our annual Best Of series honoring the best games, movies, and shows of the year. Any content not written by the editorial team will be labeled with one of our content disclosures.
* IGN is sometimes asked to deliver sponsor messages. In the case of endemic sponsors, these callouts are only made by IGN presenters who do not provide review scores on the product in question as part of their responsibilities at IGN.
