English

Noun

plugola ‎(usually uncountable, plural plugolas)

1. (chiefly US) Undeclared or illicit publicity or product promotion, especially on radio or television. [from 20th c.]
   • 2006, Susan Tyler Eastman, Douglas A. Ferguson, Robert A. Klein (eds.), Media Promotion and Marketing for Broadcasting, Cable, and the Internet, page 22:

     Both radio and television management must be watchful for instances of staff payola and plugola.

   • 2007, Carey L Higgins and Gerald Sussman, in Gibson & Lowes (eds.), Urban Communication: Production, Text, Context, page 151:

     Portland's TV stations regularly employ plugola in news programming as a way of promoting parent network programming […] .

   • 2012, Paul Farhi, The Washington Post, 4 Jan 2012:

     It’s unclear just how widespread such “plugola” schemes are now. But an FCC report, published in June, cited a 2010 Pew survey in which 24 percent of local TV news executives reported “a blurring of lines between advertising and news.”