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Native advertising is more widespread than ever, and millions of websites are leveraging the psychological power behind it.<\/p>\nHey buddy,<\/p>\n
This is the third instalment in our \u2018Native Ads: Staying Compliant\u2019 series, and today we\u2019re going to be looking at how regulators set out guidelines for advertisers\u2026<\/p>\n
\u2026and how to make sure you stay on the right side of these guidelines!<\/p>\n
Native advertising is more widespread than ever, and millions of websites are leveraging the psychological power behind it.<\/p>\n
A recent study estimated that around 75% of advertisers have used native advertising to promote their business, and this number doesn\u2019t look set to drop any time soon.<\/p>\n
In fact, with Facebook, Twitter, and recently Instagram incorporating sponsored images into their advertising packages, more and more marketers are beginning to realize the importance \u2013 and effectiveness \u2013 of native ads.<\/p>\n
However; of course, this rise in advertisers presents a new problem\u2026<\/p>\n
Regulation.<\/p>\n
Country-specific governing bodies each have their own laws and legal guidelines for advertisers to follow, and while the native ad publishing companies do a good job of auditing most of the ads they run, it\u2019s still really <\/i>important you\u2019re aware of what you CAN and CAN\u2019T do.<\/p>\n
In this post we\u2019re going to look at the advertising regulators for the US, and the UK. The FTC and the ASA respectively. But first, let\u2019s look at some general <\/i>guidelines, accepted by native ad companies as the \u2018industry standard\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u2018Don\u2019t Deceive Your Customer\u2019<\/b><\/span><\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n This is one of the most fundamental rules of advertising law in general, and it\u2019s generally accepted that advertising campaigns must do everything they can to make sure the customer doesn\u2019t have false expectations.<\/p>\n <\/a>For example, you\u2019ve probably seen the following disclaimers on financial or trading websites\u2026<\/p>\n And that\u2019s fine\u2026 these messages are meant to act as an honest, integral, and upfront way of saying \u2018here\u2019s the risks, and here\u2019s the reality\u2019.<\/p>\n But native advertising has a complication other advertising avenues don\u2019t have;<\/p>\n The Ethical Principles<\/b><\/p>\n But many consumer\u2019s feel cheated and lied to if and when they find out the truth about the ad, many indeed believing they were clicking on an article or post published by the website they were on originally.<\/p>\n In general, you can combat this disconnect by offering readers valuable, relevant, and interesting content.<\/p>\n Sure, you might get more clicks<\/i> if you take a click-bait approach and make some bold, wild claims\u2026<\/p>\n But when it comes to the consumers taking action, making a purchase, or opting into your list, the ones who\u2019re going to be valuable<\/i> customers \u2013who make you money \u2013 are the ones who receive actual value from your ad.<\/p>\n So there\u2019s obviously a blurry line between native ads and consumers\u2026<\/p>\n But what are the actual laws?<\/p>\n First, let\u2019s look at the US\u2019s regulatory body\u2026<\/p>\n FTC \u2013 The Federal Trade Commission<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n The FTC is independent from the US Government, but ensures consumer law amongst other things.<\/p>\n Wikipedia states\u2026<\/p>\n \u2018Its principal mission is the promotion of consumer protection and the elimination and prevention of anticompetitive business practices, such as coercive monopoly.\u2019<\/i><\/p>\n While the FTC governs all types of advertising, both on AND offline, unfortunately, they haven\u2019t published definitive rules surrounding native ads.<\/p>\n Instead, their existing rules and regulations are applicable, and this often causes a lot of confusion with marketers, especially those with little to no experience.<\/p>\n Take a look at section 5 of the FTC\u2019s \u2018basic principles of advertising law\u2019.<\/p>\n Quite general.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s an ad found inside the NativeAdBuzz<\/a>\u00a0dashboard that are perfectly acceptable – note how it doesn’t make specific claims or promises?<\/p>\n Now, alongside the points above, the FTC also <\/i>states that \u2018Online Advertising needs to be disclosed as such.\u2019<\/p>\n It then <\/i>goes on to say\u2026<\/p>\n \u2018Online Advertisers need to ensure any disclosures fit into the context in which the advertising appears. They also need to be placed in close proximity with the ad.\u2019<\/i><\/p>\n There\u2019s also some search-engine results advertising guidelines which the FTC lay-out, and these can generally be attributed to native ads, as well. For example, one of these guidelines is\u2026<\/p>\n \u2018Ensuring sponsored results are <\/i>clearly separated<\/u><\/i> from organic search results.\u2019<\/i><\/p>\n Now the FTC have agreed the use of borders and shading are acceptable ways to differentiate the ads from one another, which is why, in general, native ads are free to follow the same guidelines.<\/p>\n So the FTC have provided some general guidance for publishers \u2013 let\u2019s look at what the UK\u2019s equivalent says.<\/p>\n ASA \u2013 The Advertising Standards Authority<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n The ASA are the UK body for advertising regulation, and they describe themselves as\u2026<\/p>\n \u2018The UK’s independent regulator of advertising across all media, now including marketing on websites.\u2019<\/i><\/p>\n While their official stance on online marketing (including native ads) appears to have been developed fairly recently, they\u2019ve been largely following in the footsteps of the FTC when it comes to enforcement and regulation.<\/p>\n In fact, the impact and control of the FTC is so great that many UK-based companies choose to follow their<\/i> guidelines, rather than determining what\u2019s legal in their home country.<\/p>\n While the rules aren\u2019t crystal clear, in general, the ASA promote fairly similar advertising guidelines to the FTC.<\/p>\n They ALSO require that ads are substantiated before being published or aired, and they carry out random checks on ads in both media AND the online field, as quoted below from their website;<\/p>\n \u2018The Advertising Codes require that all claims must be substantiated before being published or aired.\u2019<\/i><\/p>\n \u2018Together with CAP, we work to support the industry to help them get their ads right before they are published. For example, by providing guidance, pre-publication advice and training for the industry. \u2018<\/i><\/p>\n A brief extract, from cap.org.uk is shown below, outlining some more of the guidelines for UK advertisers;<\/p>\n \u2018Marketing communications must not falsely claim or imply that the marketer is acting as a consumer or for purposes outside its trade, business, craft or profession; marketing communications must make clear their commercial intent, if that is not obvious from the context (rule 2.4). It\u2019s probably worth pointing out that this rule reflects a practice banned by statute, namely the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs). \u2018<\/i><\/p>\n It\u2019s ALSO important to know that the ASA have <\/i>upheld complaints against advertisers found to be breaching the rules.<\/p>\n They recently upheld a complaint against Outbrain regarding its native advertising campaign, noting that it had failed to ensure that consumers would be easily able to identify the adverts as\u2026 adverts.<\/p>\n Outbrain challenged the allegation, stating that they were simply using targeted-advertising to show customers highly-relevant content\u2026 largely based on the consumer\u2019s interests, through data collection\u2026<\/p>\n But the ASA rejected these claims and found Outbrain liable for breaching the UK\u2019s advertising regulations.<\/p>\n This should be a stark wake up call for marketers around the UK, and, the world \u2013 if one of the world\u2019s largest publishing companies can be found in breach by the regulatory bodies \u2013 YOU CAN TOO.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why it\u2019s so important your native ads follow the legal guidelines in your residing country, as well as the country you\u2019re advertising in.<\/p>\n In our next post we\u2019re going to look at 5 simple techniques to make sure your ads stay on the right side of the law, and we really recommend you check it out before<\/i> launching your online campaigns.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re not already a member, you\u2019ll also want to join NativeAdBuzz.<\/p>\n![\"Screenshot_3\"](\"https:\/\/nab-s3-wordpress.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/08130356\/Screenshot_3.png\")
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Native adverts work\u2026 we know that\u2026<\/p>\n![\"seal\"](\"https:\/\/nab-s3-wordpress.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/08130414\/seal.jpg\")
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It goes on to state that marketing communications must be obviously identifiable, regardless of whether the ad is placed on a billboard, shown on TV, or\u2026 ran on the Internet.<\/p>\n