Online advertising to be regulated by ASA

It has been announced that the Advertising Standards Authority will soon be in charge of regulating online marketing and advertisements in the same way as it does with traditional media advertising and marketing.

The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority is responsible for regulation and overseeing of advertising and marketing in traditional media, and operates strict advertising rules that must be adhered to by those running and placing advertisements. However, it has been announced that this power will now be extended to online marketing and advertising from next year.

With broadband having become increasingly popular over the years the Internet has become a major platform for advertising and marketing. With this in mind the ASA will become responsible for the regulation of online marketing and advertising from March of next year, and will even have the power to ban marketing ads from social networking sites such as Facebook.

An official from the ASA said: “This is a massive step. Consumers don’t differentiate between adverts on TV or online and this ensures that claims online will be subject to the same strict scrutiny of those in traditional media.”

Whilst the ASA received over three and a half thousand complaints last year over fifty percent of this were out of its remit. The extension of its powers to the online community means that far more of those complaints will now be handled by the advertising regulator. New rules will be brought in and websites will be given until the beginning of March next year to start complying with these regulations.

Source – BBC