ASA releases new “Report an Influencer Ad Identification Breach” process

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has today released a new reporting process for influencer ad identification breaches. Advertising content must be clearly identified, regardless of where it might be seen. This includes ad content posted by influencers.

This new process follows the release in September 2020 of the Influencers AdHelp Information – making it clear that ads are ads. An education phase followed the release of the AdHelp and from December 2020 complaints were accepted for processing. The Influencers AdHelp Information has now been updated to reflect the new reporting process.

Since the release of the influencers AdHelp Information, the ASA has received over 200 complaints and enquiries about Influencer ad content. Most complaints are about straight-forward issues relating to a lack of sufficient identification on influencer ad content. A large percent of influencers ‘settle’ the complaints by removing the content or putting a label on it. Based on this, the ASA will now be running a reporting process to deal with ad identification concerns. Complaints about the content of an influencer’s ad, including the images used with an ad, will continue to be processed through the ASA advertising complaints process.

Hilary Souter, Chief Executive of the Advertising Standards Authority, said “Consumers have shown they are alert to influencer advertising content and are proactive in raising their concerns with us if they see ad content they feel is not identified. The new process will allow the ASA to work with influencers to quickly correct any errors and show any patterns of behaviour where further education and information for the influencer and advertisers may be required.”

More information on the report an ad process is available on the ASA website.
To download a PDF of the Influencers AdHelp Information for Identifying Ad Content, click here.

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