The Advertising Standards Authority and Online Marketing
The Advertising Standards Authority is a pretty fearsome beast when it comes to media advertising, but from 1 March 2011 the ASA is extending its reach toward websites that wrongly advertise their products and services.
ASA have launched a campaign to make people aware of the changes, and that websites and methods they employ to promote themselves, such as Facebook and Twitter, are going to be subject to the non-broadcast advertising rules that are set out in the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) Code.
Marketing on websites has to be legal, truthful, decent and honest (shouldn’t it always be?). The current ASA campaign is there to help webmasters get in touch with the proper channels to see if their website is up to code when internet marketing, and if any changes need making before the law comes into effect.
This is why it’s so important to have an organic SEO campaign, and to utilise techniques that are as natural as possible when you want to spread the message of your website across the internet. Honesty is the best policy – if you target the right terms and make use of the right portals in the right way then there’s absolutely nothing to be worried about. Keep calm and carry on, as they say!
From a logical, moral point of view, those who invest in search marketing, PPC management and more just need to be upfront and honest about the products and services they can provide without exaggerating and embellishing the truth! You’d be annoyed if you saw an advert on TV that mis-represented a product. It’s good that ASA are wading into the deep waters of online marketing, web development and other areas – who knows, it may also help to decrease the amount of spam sites on the internet that have climbed up the rankings via black-hat means, making the playing field more level for all!
