The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has announced ‘a world first’ pilot to explore the ways in which leading digital companies adhere to advertising regulations.
Members of IAB UK including Amazon Ads, Google, Meta, Twitter, TikTok, Yahoo, Adform and Index Exchange, have collaborated with the advertising authority in an effort to bring more transparency and accountability to the role these companies play in upholding regulations.
Beginning in June this year, the pilot titled ‘Intermediary and Platform Principles’ will extend the ASA’s role online and premiere a set of principles to examine how participating companies raise advertisers’ awareness of the rules that apply to their ads.
The initiative will also aid the standards authority in securing compliance in cases when advertisers appear unable to comply with regulations.
Companies like the multinational technology giant Amazon, will volunteer information to highlight the ways in which they operate in accordance with the ASA and Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) codes.
“We will use this information, and other intelligence collected throughout the reporting period, to publish an aggregated interim report and a final report,” the ASA said.
This independent report will help identify examples of good and bad practice and how companies perform against regulatory principles in different ways.
Additionally, the information gathered is set strengthen the enforcement and effectiveness of CAP code.
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“The role that leading digital companies play to uphold advertising standards online and help deliver better outcomes for the public is not well-known or understood,” ASA chief executive Guy Parker added.
“This pilot brings more accountability and transparency to this area of our work and serves as an important contribution to future policy thinking in this area”.
IAB UK CEO Jon Mew concluded: “Creating more transparency and accountability within digital advertising is in all of our best interests.”
“It’s no secret that the most effective regulatory measures are developed with the co-operation and input of the industry, and based on robust evidence, and we believe that this pilot will set an example of how that can best be achieved.”
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