The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned two of Google’s ads, which featured on Channel 4.
In three Google ads, featured in Taskmaster ad-breaks, Alex Horne, the regular host of the Taskmaster programme, gives Al Murray and Desiree Burch tasks to complete with the help of Google Translate and Google Lens.
Members of the public phoned in to challenge whether the ads were indistinguishable from the actual programme itself.
The first video advertisement sees Murray and Burch use Google features to teach a teacher how to make an origami boat. The ad lasts up to three and a half minutes long and has the word “#ad” superimposed on the bottom right of the screen for the whole duration.
The response from Google about this specific video asserted that though the ad did not open with a Google logo, the “enduring presence” of the “#ad” text made it clear that the advertisement was entirely separate from the Taskmaster programme itself.
The non-governmental organisation Clearcast, also advised Google on this text inclusion.
Channel 4 also claimed that viewers would comprehend its ad form due to the fact that the celebrity duo had never appeared together on the show.
However, the ASA chose to disagree with the complaint and concluded that this first ad was “obviously distinguishable” from the editorial content.
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Despite this, the two remaining ads which were shortened versions of the main advertisement were both thirty seconds long and only featured the “#ad” text for three seconds each.
Google claimed that the three-second display exceeded the recommended minimum of two seconds in the BCAP guidance on the Use of Superimposed Text in Television Advertising.
“They said the ads also opened with the Google logo clearly displayed in the front and centre of the screen and closed with an end card pointing viewers to Google’s UK YouTube channel and another appearance of the Google logo,” the ASA said.
“They believed this made the nature of the ad clear to viewers.”
The self-regulatory authority decided to disagree with Google stating that though the Google logo was featured at the start and end of the ads, extra care needed to be taken to ensure the viewers were not confused between the ad and the programme itself.
It also claimed that despite the technology company’s efforts to comply with BCAP guidance, rules also indicate that in “significant” circumstances other measures should be taken to place emphasis on clarity.
The ASA added: “In the absence of that on-screen text for the full duration of the ads, the Google logo and link to the YouTube page were insufficient to enable viewers to recognise that they were not viewing editorial programme content.”
“We therefore concluded that the ads were not obviously distinguishable from the editorial programme content and breached the Code on that basis.”
The authority ultimately decided that these two shorter advertisements should be taken down and that Google should ensure future ads were “obviously distinguishable from editorial content”.
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