The Boston Globe Begins Running Sponsored Content

The Boston Globe on Wednesday became the latest newspaper to begin offering sponsored content, part of an industry-wide turn toward diversified digital advertising in the face of continued contraction of print revenue.

The advertisement, a 1,000-plus word story paid for by Rockland Trust, chronicles the lives of two small business owners financed by the Massachusetts commercial bank. A bright red label that reads “Sponsored by Rockland Trust” distinguishes the advertisement from the rest of the content on The Globe’s homepage, and a note alerts readers that the piece was not created by Globe journalists.