...Is your website, decent, legal and honest?
by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
The remit of the British Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is being extended to cover marketing on websites, which also, I as far as I understand does include Blogs, with effect from 1 March 2011. In other words, all marketing communications on an organisations' own website (or under their control on other sites e.g. Facebook and Twitter) must adhere to the non-broadcast advertising rules as set out in the CAP Code.
The CAP is the Committee of Advertising Practice, the industry body that writes the advertising codes and offers a full range of training and advice resources.
The ASA will be running an ad campaign to raise awareness of its extended remit and calls on organisations, such as charities and membership bodies, to ensure marketing messages on their websites are legal, decent, honest and truthful. It also encourages business to make sure their websites comply by seeking help and advice.
The ASA Director of Communications, Policy and Marketing, Esra Erkal-Paler says: "We want to reach all those who might not be fully aware of the ASA’s new role and the requirements of the CAP Code. It’s important that businesses don’t get caught out come 1st March so they can review their websites now and get help from CAP Services."
Under rules in several countries already Blogs and website have to state how their relationship is, for instance, to a company, organization, etc., whose press releases they use, such as issuing a statement that they did or did not receive any payment for it. The same also applies with reference to reviews, whether products, books or services.
Advertising standards must be adhered to on any Blog or website, and also any services under one's control such as Twitter account or Facebook. It has to be said that it is difficult to know what Google Ads, for instance, uses on someone's site or Blog signed up with them. However, I should assume that they have signed up to the code and will adhere to it.
Disclosure statements as are now required practice in many countries as to Blogs, and for Blogs that are hosted in those countries even though the operator may be in another country, in my view, are a good ideas, as it will – or at least it should if people are honest, as they need to be under the law – clarify as to how honest a review may be seen.
This also should lay to rest the practice of hidden sponsored reviews when the client stipulated that no mention must be made of the fact that the article is, in fact a sponsored review. This is illegal now in many jurisdictions and thus the practice – which is a bad practice – should be at an end now.
Maybe, therefore, advertisers and their agents could take note that it will now be illegal to do such things and, as far as I am concerned, there needs to be some real and honest openness and clarity put forward on Blogs and other media websites as to whether or not payment was received for an article.
In some countries, such as in the USA, it is now legal demand that the author states as to whether or not and in which way he or she was remunerated for an article or Blog post written and put online, which is now common practice on all publications operated by Tatchipen Media, whether online or not.
© 2011
