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As the United States cautiously emerges from the depths of the pandemic, researchers are forecasting double-digit gains in ad spending for 2022. If you’re part of the wave of companies developing new advertising campaigns, you’ll want to brush up on legal requirements designed to ensure that your ads are truthful, fair, and evidence-based. Failure to follow these rules can lead to regulator or competitive lawsuits, reputational harm, loss of consumer trust, significant fines or damages, and in some cases, requirements for corrective disclosures.
Continue Reading Rules of the Road for Advertisers and Marketers: The Basics

In July 2018, the French data protection authority (the CNIL) issued two public formal notices against two marketing platform providers—

Teemo1 and Fidzup2—for failing to obtain valid consent under the General Data Protection Regulaton (GDPR) for the use of location data for profiling and targeted advertising.3 The CNIL gave the two French companies three months to change their practices to comply with EU data protection law. On October 3, 2018, the CNIL closed the matter against Teemo,4 as it considered that its updated practices now comply with the GDPR.5 The actions provide an indicator as to how Data Protection Authorities (DPAs) may approach enforcement under the GDPR.
Continue Reading France: CNIL Issues Formal Notices Against Two Marketing Platforms for Lack of Valid Consent for the Processing of Location Data

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has settled its first-ever complaint against social media influencers for deceptive endorsements.1 According to the FTC’s complaint, Trevor “TmarTn” Martin and Thomas “Syndicate” Cassell, two influencers who have wide followings in the online gaming community, promoted an online gambling service called CSGO Lotto on YouTube and Twitter without disclosing that they jointly owned the company.2 The complaint also charges that they paid other gaming influencers thousands of dollars to promote the service on social media platforms, while prohibiting them from saying anything that might impair its reputation.3
Continue Reading FTC Steps Up Scrutiny of Social Media Marketing

ThinkstockPhotos-471796151-webThe Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) is now showing that it has strong teeth. CASL requires companies operating in Canada to obtain affirmative opt-in consent prior to sending commercial electronic messages (CEMs), such as emails or text messages, within Canada. In addition, any CEM sent must contain certain identification information and provide recipients with a means of opting out or unsubscribing from future messages. These requirements were enacted in December 2010, and CASL provided a grace period that ended on July 1, 2014. Now that CASL is subject to enforcement, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), which is charged with enforcing CASL, has announced two enforcement actions that should place organizations operating in Canada on notice that violations of the law may result in significant penalties.
Continue Reading Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation Shows Its Teeth with First Enforcement Actions

Mobile and social media marketing are on the rise.1 With that in mind, the Federal Trade Commission issued new guidance for advertisers on how to make effective mobile and other online disclosures. Entitled “.com Disclosures: How to Make Effective Disclosures in Digital Advertising,”2 the guidance provides an update to the FTC’s 2000 publication on the same topic. The revised guidance is intended to address the expanding use of smart phones and social media marketing, where small screens and character limitations pose challenges for companies making advertising claims.3 Although the guidance itself is not law, the FTC cautions that these disclosures are required by the laws it enforces.
Continue Reading FTC Issues New Guidance for Disclosures in Online Advertising