In fairness, on site the itself it is pretty clearly highlighted as sponsored content.

Must admit that I was disappointed on clicking to find that it wasn't actual reporting.

same, i was hoping it would be something interesting :(

As long as it is made clear it is sponsored content I don't mind. I find it more acceptable than ads from third party networks.

to me the decision to write an article about a technical topic such as "APIs" shows a certain amount of importance given to technology by NYT. However once I read it as a sponsored article, it felt dishonest, as if the topic was not interesting enough to warrant "true" interest.

I agree.