You mean like product placement in movies and TV shows? Because honestly that's quite bearable.
But once they do it better it becomes rather problematic ethically. What good is a "this contains PP" label if it's the standard and you can't identify it. I guess once we cross that bridge my only recourse is non consumption. I guess there might be a disruption opportunity there somewhere where you can pay for content without the PP which requires shooting TV/movies/sports broadcasts in two different modes. Doubt there would be many customers for that though...maybe the other way around, dynamic programming with custom tailored PP.
As a reader, I don't care that much if an article is paid or not. If it convinces me to buy something, it'll usually be something I can return.
As a citizen, it is terrifying that journalism and advertising may one day be indistinguishable.
I'm a lot more cynical of articles, though, and like you I generally treat any positive piece (even down to forum posts if they smell fishy) with a degree of suspicion.
Large actors should never have too much control over the media.