Publishers are largely driven by the sponsored content since making money from traditional online advertising is getting difficult with fewer people clicking on banner ads, abundance of ad space and for other factors.

Michael S Perlis, the president and chief executive of Forbes Media, said the brands are never allowed to make a direct pitch to consumers in their articles. "It is, in fact, content, It's not advertising. It's about big issues that relate to thought leadership," Perlis adds.

The editorial staff at Mashable says that the articles they write are still editorial content. "These are not advertorials," said Lance Ulanoff, the editor-in-chief at Mashable to New York Times. "I know what an advertorial is. These are pure editorial," said Stacy Martinet, the chief marketing officer at Mashable. She also added that brands want to be aligned with a specific theme, in this case, sophisticated technology, which readers like. Some of that sponsored content has been in the top-five most-read articles in a given week, Martinet said.

But even with large number of famous online medias supporting the sponsored content, there are few who loathe it. "I am aghast at this," said Andrew Sullivan, the former editor of The New Republic.

Readers do not pay attention to the names of people who write articles, Sullivan said. "Your average reader isn't interested in that. They don't realize they are being fed corporate propaganda."

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