Ad Industry Enforcer Issues Reminder That Notice and Choice Are Musts for Companies Engaged in Interest-Based Advertising and Native Advertising

By Alan L. Friel, Daniel Goldberg and Maryanne Stanganelli on March 23, 2016 Posted in Behavioral Advertising

The Online Interest-Based Advertising Accountability Program (Accountability Program), which enforces the advertising industry’s self-regulatory system administered by the Council of Better Business Bureaus, has published the resolution of two formal inquiries into the privacy practices of The Hollywood Reporter (Hollywood) and Varick Media Management (Varick). According to the Accountability Program, both Hollywood and Varick violated … Continue Reading

Industry Regulatory Organization to Outbrain and Gravity: Interest-Based Native Advertising Must Comply With Self-Regulatory Principles

By Alan M. Pate on November 9, 2015 Posted in Behavioral Advertising

In two decisions issued last week, major native advertising players Gravity and Outbrain were found to have failed to comply with the online advertising industry’s self-regulatory principles for interest-based ads. The decisions, issued by the Better Business Bureau’s Online Interest-Based Advertising Accountability Program (OIBAAP), are the first to address whether native advertising targeted toward consumers’ … Continue Reading

FTC Clarifies Native and Online Ad Obligations

By Alan L. Friel and Fernando A. Bohorquez, Jr. on June 17, 2015 Posted in Marketing, Retail Industry, Social Media

The FTC, in recent staff statements, has sought to clarify advertisers’ and publishers’ obligations regarding native advertising and social media promotions, particularly regarding when and how to clarify to readers that a message is promotional and that the speaker has a material connection to the brand mentioned in the content. Further, the FTC has announced … Continue Reading