Home Knowledge Online Advertising which Fails to Identify Paid Comments is Deceptive

Online Advertising which Fails to Identify Paid Comments is Deceptive

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) in England has held that online advertising which fails to identify that comments have been paid for is deceptive under the UK’s fair trading laws. Companies that sponsor promotions on blogs and tweets must disclose that payment has occurred.

The OFT found that Handpicked Media, a company which provides commercial blogging services, had published content on a variety of internet sources endorsing its clients’ goods and services. The company had done so however without making it sufficiently clear to consumers that the comments had been paid for. 

The company was found to be in breach of the UK’s Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. The OFT ruled that its practices constituted misleading omissions and unfair commercial practices. These regulations compare closely to Part 3 of the Consumer Protection Act 2007 which is in force in Ireland.

Handpicked Media was required to undertake that it would not engage in any further promotional activity unless the paid for nature of such activity was disclosed.  On this point, the OFT offered some guidance – disclosures must clearly and prominently disclose, in a manner which would be unavoidable to the average consumer, that the promotion has been paid for.

For further information please contact David Cullen or John Magee of our Technology & Commercial Contracts Department.