Advertising and marketing | UK Regulatory Outlook October 2023

ASA publishes final report on Intermediary and Platform Principles Pilot

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has published a final report covering its Intermediary and Platform Principles Pilot. The pilot was introduced by the ASA in June 2022 in cooperation with a group of some of the largest companies in the digital advertising sector, and ran until June 2023.  

The pilot was designed as an attempt to strengthen the cooperation between the ASA and the participants in supporting the ASA's online regulation and promoting the public's and advertisers' awareness of the ASA system. Six voluntary principles (alongside the guidance) supported the pilot, and participating companies agreed to provide information to the ASA to demonstrate how they implemented those principles applicable to the services they offer.

The ASA says that it has been greatly encouraged by participating companies' overall commitment to the principles and willingness to cooperate. The ASA outlined examples of good practice and highlighted areas for ongoing consideration in terms of the implementation of one or more principles by participating companies. Overall, the ASA's assessment of the pilot is positive.

Next steps include a review of all information gathered through the pilot by the ASA, the industry and other stakeholders to evaluate any gaps in the ASA's ability to secure advertisers' compliance with the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct & Promotional Marketing online, and how they can be addressed. The review will also take place in the context of the government's Online Advertising Programme.

Report of the influence of NFTs and blockchain: advertising aspects

The House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee in its recent report has considered the influence of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and blockchain on various sectors, such as the arts, culture and professional sports. Among other things, the report dedicated attention to the impact of these new technologies on the advertising sector. 

The report refers to the government's response to the Online Advertising Programme and welcomes the intention to introduce statutory regulation for online advertising. The Committee recommends that the ministerial-led taskforce announced in the government's response explicitly considers the marketing of NFTs and other cryptoassets to tackle the problem of misleading and fraudulent ads in this sector. The Committee emphasises that any new regime must compel the whole advertising industry to take appropriate steps to mitigate risks to consumers related to ads for NFTs.

See Consumer section for more information on the report.

New rules on marketing cryptoassets to UK consumers now in force

See Fintech, Digital Assets, Payments and Consumer Credit section