adverts
Latest
Google bans sketchy UK ads for profiteering addiction helplines
Google's not having the best start to the year, as it's already been called out, yet again, for unscrupulous advertising practices. An investigation by The Sunday Times shed light on a significant money-making machine, which played out through Google ads, targeting people seeking help for substance abuse issues. Someone entering relevant search terms might see an ad for a free advice helpline. These services might subsequently provide details of formal treatment options at private clinics. A caller wasn't to know, however, that successful referrals were netting these companies significant commission fees. As a result of the investigation, Google has now banned these types of ads from appearing in search results in the UK.
Wileyfox phones are cheaper if you don’t mind lockscreen ads
Wileyfox is already in the business of making affordable smartphones that prioritise value for money, and now it's started offering most of its devices for significantly cheaper, provided customers are willing to put up with ads on their lockscreen. From today, you can get as much as 42 percent off the retail price of a Wileyfox phone should you opt to pick up the "Add-X" version. Amazon has a similar scheme in the US with ad-subsidised "Prime Exclusive" phones, and in the UK you can get a tenner off the retailer's Fire tablets and some Kindle e-readers if you let Amazon stick its "Special Offers" on the lockscreen.
UK watchdog tells ISPs to advertise ‘real’ broadband speeds
Broadband packages are notoriously difficult to untangle. Prices are obscured with introductory discounts and the speeds you get are nothing like what was advertised. It sucks, and the UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) knows it. So today, the watchdog has announced new rules for broadband advertising. From now on, the figure you see must be based on the download speeds available to 50 percent of the company's customers at peak hours. In addition, a qualifier like "average" must be visible. It's a marked improvement over the previous guidelines, which said speeds must be available to at least 10 percent of customers.
Channel 4 is making All 4 accounts mandatory early next year
Channel 4 is going the way of the BBC early next year, when it will begin forcing users to sign up for an All 4 account in order to access the catchup service. No doubt, like the BBC, this will give Channel 4 the opportunity to better tailor the All 4 experience to the individual. But switching accounts from optional to mandatory isn't without an ulterior motive. Just as the BBC peeks at user data to catch out licence fee dodgers, Channel 4 will utilise it to serve targeted ads to nearly every All 4 streamer, whether they be watching on a phone, tablet, console or smart TV.
30 governments are interfering with democracy online
Political mudslinging is a concept as old as politics itself, but in recent years it's found its way off the podium and onto the internet, and a new report now shows the extent of the problem. According to findings from Freedom House, governments in no less than 30 countries are now "mass producing their own content to distort the digital landscape in their favor". Furthermore, these manipulation efforts may have affected elections taking place in 18 countries.
Piccadilly Circus' billboard is alight once more, and it's watching
The iconic lights illuminating London's Piccadilly Circus were switched back on this morning, nine months after going dark to accommodate some serious renovations. The huge advertising space is no longer home to six distinct screens. Instead, owner Land Securities has swapped these out for one giant, curved LED display with a greater-than-4K resolution that measures around 790 square metres in total. The upgraded screen allows for more dynamic ads that can move around or take over the whole space, and incorporate mod cons like livestreams. With a bevvy of cameras and sensors, the Piccadilly Lights can also respond to the local environment and deliver targeted, responsive ads.
UK watchdog calls out unlabelled Snapchat ads for the first time
The UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has its work cut out for it as the line between legitimate online content and ads gets ever blurrier. Social media "influencers" regularly flout the rules and despite the sheer volume of posts across different platforms, the ASA occasionally issues slaps on the wrists for offending Tweets and Instagram campaigns. And today, the ASA has wagged a stern finger at Snapchat posts that weren't appropriately labelled as ads for the first time.
Facebook hands over Russia-linked ads to Congress
Facebook is handing over evidence of 3,000 Russia-linked advertisements to congressional investigators today, following weeks of pressure from Congress to reveal details about its advertising system. The ads in question -- which ran between June 2015 and May 2017 -- are said to have been paid for by a Russian entity known as the "Internet Research Agency" with the apparent intention of fuelling political discord and exacerbating divisiveness, particularly during the presidential election.
UK ad watchdog to tackle misleading broadband speed claims
Broadband pricing is easier to understand than it used to be. Last year, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) forced ISPs to include line rental in the price of contracts, so consumers know exactly what they're expected to pay each month. (Introductory discounts still obscure the price you'll be paying later down the line, but hey-ho. Baby steps.) That November, the ASA said it was also time to revisit speed claims, given most customers are unlikely to get what's advertised. Today, the Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP) -- which sets the rules the ASA enforce -- has proposed a number of ways speed claims could be made more transparent.
Channel 4's online TV ads will call you out by name
Adverts are about to get a lot more personalised -- or creepier, depending on your point of view -- the next time you hop on the All 4 streaming service to catch up on The Island with Bear Grylls. This month, Channel 4 is bringing a new ad format to its on-demand platform that targets the viewer directly, including their name as part of the promo. Channel 4 gets this information from your All 4 account details, of course, and it's not a case of simply stamping that on an outro slide. In eerie, Minority Report style, the ads will actually talk to you (a world first, apparently), calling out your name and telling you to "run" after showing you a trailer for Alien: Covenant, for example.
Google vows to pull ads from extreme videos and sites
Google has detailed new safeguards to ensure brands don't have their adverts served against extremist content. The measures follow a wave of complaints and advertising withdrawals by the UK government, Audi and L'Oreal, among others, triggered by a Times investigation which revealed a number of adverts being shown alongside harmful and inappropriate videos on YouTube. In a blog post, Google said it would be taking "a tougher stance" and "removing ads more effectively" from content that is attacking people based on their race, religion or gender. It also promised to hire "significant numbers" of new staff to review "questionable content."
Uber wants you to give its app a 'Rogue One' makeover
Rogue One is almost upon us, so what better way to scoot around town then in the back of an X-Wing? Okay, so Uber hasn't made a road-worthy starfighter replica. Instead, it's teamed up with Disney for a -- wait for it, and try not to shudder -- brand "activation." In non-advertiser lingo, that means you'll see a new Star Wars card inside the Uber app. Tap "activate" and the cars on the map will turn into Rebellion spaceships. (The hope being, presumably, that you'll pretend you're rolling with Jyn Erso and the gang.) You'll also get the option to watch "never-before-seen curated video content," which probably means a slightly re-cut trailer or featurette.
Search ads show up on Apple's App Store
While we've known for months that Apple would start placing adverts in App Store search results, only a small percentage of iPhone and iPad users have seen them so far. From today, however, all device owners running iOS 10 in the US will see targeted apps whenever they search for popular terms like "taxi," "to do" and even "Pokémon" on Apple's app marketplace.
Three's mobile ad-blocking trial starts today
Three is trialling network-level ad-blocking in the UK today. The experiment, which is sure to put advertisers and publishers on edge, will affect a small number of Three customers that were approached beforehand. It's been described as a "technology test" for Shine, an ad-blocking specialist that Three has recruited to explore the idea.
Sprint poached Verizon's 'Can you hear me now?' guy
Geico has a Gecko, Progressive has Flo and Verizon... doesn't have the "can you hear me now?" guy any more. That's because actor Paul Marcarelli has been signed up by Sprint to be the new face of its brand, while mugging off his former employer. In the first of a series of commercials, the former Verizon guys says that his oft-repeated question is now irrelevant because "it's 2016 and every network is great." Sprint is using him to push the idea that its coverage is just one percent behind Big Red, so people shouldn't have to worry about coverage issues.
Three to trial mobile ad blocking next month
Three will soon trial network-level ad blocking in the UK. Such a move was telegraphed back in February, when the carrier inked a deal with Shine, a company that specialises in the practice. The trial will take place on the week starting June 13th, for 24 hours. Three will contact customers beforehand and they'll be able to sign up through the carrier's website. The extent of the ad-blocking isn't clear, but Shine says it can handle "all of the mobile web," including display ads and display ads within apps.
UK clamps down on online ads disguised as articles
Even the most robust ad-blocking software can't strip the internet of promotional material entirely. UK watchdog The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) usually spends its time putting the kibosh on misleading ads, but recently it's also started turning its attention to more underhand marketing practices. Just last month, the regulator begun cracking down on fake online reviews, and today it announced it's now taking media companies to task over promotional articles and blogs -- aka sponsored content -- that doesn't clearly tell the reader they're essentially looking at an advertisement.
Instagram introduces 60-second video ads
Instagram's toolset is beginning to diverge for users and advertisers. Since September businesses have been able to upload 30-second video ads -- double the length available to regular users -- and starting this week that limit is being increased to a minute. Warner Bros. and T-Mobile are among the first brands to utilize the extra time, injecting extended film trailers and Drake-centric Superbowl ads into people's feeds. Neither are particularly innovative, but it's notable that the extra time makes them feel more like traditional advertising and less like shareable, social snippets.
Twitter opens topical Moments feed to UK advertisers
Twitter's Moments feature lets users step back from their rapid-fire feeds and see what hot topics are dominating internet chatter. From news to funnies to trending subjects, Moments blend media and commentary into curated, bitesize overviews. But like any self-respecting social network would, Twitter's made sure the new feature doubles as a new revenue stream. Promoted Moments, aka adverts, began appearing in the US weeks after the feature launched, and from today, Brits will start seeing them pop up too.
O2 also considers blocking phone ads
More than one UK network is weighing up whether to offer its customers mobile ad-blocking tools. After EE stepped forward over the weekend, O2 is doing the same through an interview with Business Insider. Robert Franks, managing director of digital commerce at O2, says the carrier is "absolutely" looking at the practice. "When I say we are looking at these technologies, we are not just paying lip service to them," he explains. "We are absolutely having conversations which are well-advanced in terms of what that technology would do in our network...and how we would position this with customers."
