Over 27,000 adverts were withdrawn or amended throughout 2023, according to the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which released its annual report today.
The vast majority (92%) of the ads which were withdrawn or amended last year were a direct result of the regulator‘s proactive work, with only 8% resulting from specific complaints. The ASA received 39,034 complaints over the course of the year, a rise of 16% on 2022 figures.
The regulator was able to independently process and monitor a total of 3 millions ads over the course of the year, thanks to its in-house AI-based Active Ad Monitoring System. That figure is expected to be as high as 10 million in 2024.
Online remained the most complained about medium in 2023, with a staggering 21,000 complaints made concerning 17,000 ads. This was closely followed by TV (13,000 complaints about 4, 000 ads) and email, which overtook outdoor (1,200 complaints about 1,000 ads.)
In 2023, the ASA also took a more focused approach when dealing with potential greenwashing and misleading environmental claims, cracking down on suspicious airline sustainability declarations and oil and gas emission manipulations.
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The ASA also had a significant challenge in dealing with the widespread prevalence of vape advertising in recent months, which has notoriously aggressively targeted under-18s.
Further major issues that the regulator worked hard to overcome in 2023 were the continuing impact of digitally enhanced images in ads on body image and the increasing amount of ads that trivialise the decision to have cosmetic surgery overseas.
“Our investment in data science and AI is equipping us with the tools to deliver more effective ad regulation,” ASA CEO, Guy Parker said.
“It supports the work of our expert teams and is increasingly core to our monitoring and enforcement activities through the intelligence it gives us and that we can act on.
“It helps us to remain flexible and adapt quickly to safeguard the interests of consumers and citizens, especially the young and vulnerable, in the rapidly changing digital landscape. And we continue to focus on our proactive work, across media as well as online, to prevent irresponsible ads appearing in the first place.”
