From classified ads to advertisements placed by large national advertisers, advertising plays an important role in the production of newspapers. Comprising nearly eighty percent of all newspaper revenue, advertising is vitally important to the economic stability of the newspaper industry. Advertising also serves to better consumers and authorize them to make knowledgeable buying decisions. Moreover, the American market economy trust on the flow of truthful information between producers and consumers. NAA works to guarantee that the ability to advertise is not endangered by legislative and regulatory attempts to place burdens on advertising. NAA is against to proposals that would place unfair and unconstitutional restrictions on advertising and actively works to protect commercial speech.
(Source:Newspaper Assoc. of America)
Online newspapers have become a very important resource to the public, providing updated news, as well as acting as venues for information specific to the communities that they serve. Editorial content is given by most online newspapers no charge to the reader, as the dissemination of this news and information is being paid for by advertising. Superflous regulations making restrictions that prevent digital advertising are a threat to the vitality of the free online newspaper. Newspaper Association of America actively lobbies to guarantee that legislation does not contain language that would harm digital advertising.
(Source:Newspaper Association of America)
Based on advertising law, endorsements and testimonials must show the honest opinion or experience of the endorser. The claims presented must be truthful and supported.
If a celebrity endorses a product, that testimonial must be true. Customer endorsements must reflect the typical customers experience with the said product. Simply saying that results may differ depending on the end user does not help in assuring the consumer because they cannot expect similar results.
Expert or professional endorsements must be supported by scientific methods and not only the opinion of one expert. And if an endorser would enjoy material or financial gain from the owner company, advertising law says that disclosure is needed.
Advertising law covers a diverse area of competition which encompasses but is not limited to antitrust and fair competition, consumer protection and information, fair labor practices, communications and technology and also use of copyrights and trademarks which falls under intellectual property.
A new form of advertising which is now on the horizon is what is being termed as Green Advertising wherein advertisers and ad agencies shift to environmental themes to introduce and boost salability of their products in the market. Apparently, this is in response to the growing awareness on the use of environmental friendly products and services which protect the environment. Green advertising like any form of advertising must conform to prevailing legislation and guidelines on advertising and must be monitored to ensure that advertisers also conform to existing environmental guidelines.
The key point to understand online advertising law would be that the FTC will enforce its consumer protection laws even in cyberspace.
There will be new issues all time even though the general principles of print, radio and TV advertising law apply to online ads.
Businesses need to stay current on the latest legal interpretations and ensure that they are in compliance with online advertising laws when they develop their online ads. If they don’t have time to be updated on the current legal issues, make sure that online advertising campaign is handled by a competent lawyer with deep knowledge of Internet and online advertising case law.
Online ads:
Must be truthful and not ambiguous;
Must have proof to back up their claims;
Cannot be unfair; and
Any disclosures you make must be clear and evident.
Disclosure is considered to be one of the most important aspects of online advertising law. Advertisers must assume that site visitors won’t read an entire Web site. And it is therefore very important for advertisers to make people notice any disclosures as these represent the additional information you present to consumers that isn’t given directly in the ad; it’s your opportunity to avoid any accusation of misleading information on your products or services.
The duty of advertising managers is to oversee the activity of advertising and promotion staffs. Usually they also serve as liaison officers between the firm and its clients. The task of advertising managers in larger agencies is to handle in-house accounts and take charge of the media department.
Marketing of products is the objective of a firm and it is up to the advertising manager to come up with market research, strategies and mode of implementation to reach this goal. Part of the responsibility of an advertising manager is to handle public relations work for the firm to ensure that it is always set in good light.
You may think that there’s no such thing as online advertising laws. Even though the internet is relatively new, the same laws on traditional advertising apply on the web. Be sure you check the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) online promotion guidelines and online advertising laws before you start promoting your products or services online.
FTC is doing its best to stamp out fraud and deception that might diminish consumer confidence in the e-marketplace.
FTC Act on prohibition on “unfair or deceptive acts or practices” includes advertising claims, marketing and promotional activities, and sales practices in general. This Act is not limited to a particular medium.
PubMatic provides services that publishers have been waiting for. Pubmatic marketing materials promise to give your online earning a boost by 20% to 90% which can save you a lot more time in the process also. This is also good news to many bloggers and entrepreneurs. In particular, PubMatic will be of help for you to access information from four various ad network account in just a single place. Similar to RSS reader, PubMatic will make life easier for you because it can bring your favorite website into one place aggregating information regarding your ad revenues collecting and bringing them to a simple dashboard.
With the advent of Web 2.0 technology, the ways of utilizing the Internet has become part and parcel of every major industry. One of the newest innovations to capture the imagination of the advertising and marketing industry is the Podcast. Podcast is not another form of infomercial where you try to hard sell your product by giving all the benefits and savings by purchasing it. Rather, in Podcast, you give free and helpful information to listeners regardless whether they buy your product or not.
This way of advertising gives people a feeling of flexibility and further appreciation for your product by keeping in their minds your business through the information you provides rather than forcing them to buy products from you. This creates more loyal customers for your company and the far reaching effects of a Podcast cannot be denied.