General Guidance
Last modified on December 15, 2011Table of Contents
Branding
All ads must include branding within the ad unit. All ads must also have clear branding on the landing page. Ad branding must accurately reflect the party ultimately offering the specific product or service.
i. Advertising claims
Both UK advertising law and the CAP Code state that advertisers must be able to prove that claims, direct or indirect, are capable of objective substantiation.
Unqualified claims (such as “cure” or “best”) are permissible but need to be qualified by the advertiser or backed with evidence (see Comparative Advertising section below).
Any product, claim or creative treatment that is likely to particularly influence children or other vulnerable groups will have more stringent substantiation requirements. The claim/treatment has to be defensible both as it is perceived generally by consumers and also as it is perceived by members of any such vulnerable group.
There are some particular forms of sharp practice that are banned outright under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (the “Unfair Trading Regulations”). The Unfair Trading Regulations also specify a number of practices that are “always unfair” and therefore may not be advertised. Advertisers should familiarise themselves with these practices which are contained in the Unfair Trading Regulations.
Advertising featuring lawful claims is permissible, subject to additional guidance in particular sectors including ‘junk’ food and health, cosmetic products, medicines and therapies (see specific sections below).
ii. Comparative advertising
Comparative advertising is permitted under UK advertising law and the CAP Code, provided that such adverts comply with the provisions of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, in particular by only comparing products which meet the same needs, making claims that do not denigrate other products or trademarks and aren’t misleading.
iii. Adverts stating a price
If an advert states a price and also enables consumers to make a purchase (e.g. via a click-through), then under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, the advertiser is legally obliged to make certain key disclosures as to:
- the main characteristics of the product;
- the identity of the advertiser;
- the geographical address of the advertiser;
- any additional freight, delivery or postal charges;
- any unusual arrangements as to payment, delivery, performance of the contract or complaint handling; and
- details of any right of withdrawal or cancellation where applicable.
These disclosures do not necessarily have to be made in the advert itself. Where space/time limitations of the particular advertising medium mean that it is not realistic to include all this in the advert (e.g. with banner adverts or sponsored search), advertisers can use other means (such as the landing page) to bring the information to consumers’ attention.
The advert must also show a tax inclusive price. Adverts stating a price of “£X plus taxes” (or similar) would not be permissible.
iv. Free offers
Free offers are permitted under UK advertising law, subject to the provisions of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 and the CAP Code. In particular, for an offer to be ‘free’ consumers should pay no more than the minimum, unavoidable cost of responding to the promotion and the true cost of freight or delivery. Goods forming part of a package are not ‘free’ if their price has been costed into that package and a free offer may be conditional on the purchase of other items but consumers’ liability for costs must be made clear in all material featuring the offer.
This is not an exhaustive list of provisions relating to ‘free’ offers and advertisers should refer to the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 and the CAP Code for further details and guidance.
v. Age restricted products
The sale of some products and services are restricted to adults only, for example age restricted games or DVDs, products such as fireworks, adult products and alcoholic drinks.
vi. Advertising aimed at children
UK advertising law, in particular the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 and the CAP Code, permit advertising targeted at (or likely to appeal to) children but within strict parameters. Such advertising should not:
- exploit children’s vulnerability;
- contain anything which is likely to result in their physical, mental or moral harm; or
- include a direct exhortation to children to buy advertised products or persuade their parents or other adults to buy advertised products for them.
For the purposes of much advertising regulation, children are defined as being those under 16 years of age notwithstanding other rules which may also apply.
Advertisers should also be sensitive to:
- the use of celebrities;
- wording or imagery;
- advertising techniques; and
- the advertising of ‘junk’ food in a way which is likely to appeal to children.
vii. Portrayal of minors in advertising
Advertising law and the CAP Code set out strict rules on the portrayal of children in advertising and marketing materials. These rules apply regardless of the target audience of the campaign. Adverts should not, for example, show children in dangerous situations or sexually inappropriate attire or poses.
viii. Portrayal of violence and crime
The CAP Code states that advertising should not contain anything which:
- condones or is likely to provoke violence or anti-social behaviour; or
- encourages or condones the use of illicit drugs (any reference to illegal drugs is regarded as condoning their use).
Advertisers may depart from these rules in exceptional circumstances, for example in the context of a public awareness campaign (e.g. by the government or a public interest group).
ix. Advergaming
Although the graphical adverts which link to games are regulated by the CAP Code, advergames themselves are not specifically regulated and this therefore the onus is on advertisers to reflect good industry practice in their approach to advertising advergaming. This is particularly applicable when advergames fall into any potentially sensitive categories, feature inappropriate content or are targeted at children.
The advergame or the graphical advert which links to the game should always display the advertiser’s branding.
x. Clarity as to commercial nature
It is not just with Advergames that care needs to be taken to flag the commercial nature of paid-for content. If there is any risk that an advert or advertorial could be mistaken for editorial content, then it should be clearly marked “Advertisement” to prevent and users from being mislead.
xi. Click to Call
Where an advertisement contains ‘click to call’ functionality (i.e. where a user clicks on a link and is connected to a phone destination of the advertiser’s choice), the telephone number must not be a premium rate number nor may it be re-directed to a premium rate, non-UK, or any other number which might result in higher than expected call costs for the consumer.
The advert should be designed so that the consumer needs to actually actively click to call, and displaying the advert alone must not automatically initiate a call.
xii. Prize promotions
Promotions with prizes including competitions, prize draws and instant win offers are subject to legal restrictions. The CAP Code contains additional rules in this area. If the competition requires a participant to use a premium rate phone number or mobile short code to enter, Phonepay Plus rules will also apply.
Note on illegal lotteries: Prize promotions which carry a cost of entry and have no element of skill may be considered an illegal lottery. Advertisers should take independent legal advice when running any prize promotions.
xiii. IP Targeting
If advertisers wish to target adverts into a particular region then under internal Yahoo! advertising policy, the advert must comply with the targeted region’s regulations and laws.
Please note: the UK Gambling Act 2005 will apply to all gambling adverts to be hosted from Yahoo! UK and therefore only advertisers licensed within the EEA (or an Authorised State) can run gambling adverts.
xiv. Social Media Landing Pages (GP)
Ads may link to a “public” social networking account page (e.g. Facebook, MySpace, Twitter) that is controlled by the advertiser, provided the ad is otherwisecompliant with our policies.
If an ad links to a social networking page that requires sign-in or registration, it must be noted on the ad unit. We advise linking to sign-in pages only for a specific reason, such as for ads with age-restricted content.
Ads may only include a Facebook Social Plugin (‘like’ button, ‘share’ button and feeds) with prior approval from Facebook.
Facebook logos and links arenot expressly prohibited in ads and do not require prior written permissionfrom Facebook.
xv. Embargo Clause
Products and services that, directly or indirectly, originate from, are provided to or within, or facilitate business to or with a country subject to U.S. embargo or trade sanctions, unless authorized by law, are prohibited. These countries currently include: Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria. This list may change due to updates to the export laws. Compliance with the most current list is required. For additional information, consult the Commerce and Treasury Department websites at: http://www.bis.doc.gov and http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Pages/Programs.aspx.
