New web and social media regulations ‘difficult to police’
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Deal experts Travelzoo have warned that a new online advertising code, which comes into force next week, will be difficult to police without the assistance of the public. Currently, researchers at Travelzoo advised that more than 80 percent of the offers they currently review are misleading to consumers or do not represent good value. The Advertising Standards Authority’s (ASA) code already applies to paid-for online advertising such as banner ads and pay-per-click. However, from 1 March, its online remit will be extended to cover marketing communications on an organisation’s own website, and any social media platforms under its control, such as Facebook and Twitter. The ASA will also be able to remove paid-for search ads that link back to web pages hosting non-compliant marketing communication, and “name and shame” companies that continue to not comply with advertising regulations. “Travelzoo very much welcomes the extended regulations, but we are concerned that they will be difficult to police, given the sheer scale of the internet and how prolific social media now is,” said Travelzoo’s European operations director Stephen Dunk. “Each week, we have to reject over 80 percent of the deals that we find for a number of reasons, including misleading deal information or prices that are out of date or not available. Just last week we found hotel deals advertised in the weekend papers at under
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