ISBA and Advertising Association React to Online Advertising Programme Response

Further to the government response to the Online Advertising Programme consultation, ISBA, the trade body representing UK advertisers and the Advertising Association provide comment on the response.

Phil Smith, director general, ISBA said, “We welcome the Government’s response to the Online Advertising Programme consultation. Building a trusted advertising environment – and a regulatory system that evolves to meet new challenges, and acts to prevent harm – is critical to the strength of our industry and, by extension, to the wider economy.

“Ministers are right to identify that the alignment of interests and transparency in the advertising supply chain are critical. For the past several years, ISBA has worked to shine a light on this supply chain. One example is our world-leading research on programmatic advertising and the data-sharing protocols developed by the taskforce we convened to drive change. This kind of industry leadership by has helped us to define problems and find solutions – an approach which we look forward to continuing to follow as part of the new DCMS Taskforce.

“In the coming years, better enforcement of existing laws, as well as supporting the Advertising Standards Authority to evolve and be more empowered to tackle harms – especially those experienced by children and young people – will be critical. We will look carefully at any legislative proposals which the Government brings forward to this end.”

Konrad Shek, director of policy research, Advertising Association, said, “We welcome the long awaited Government response to the Online Advertising Programme.

We are pleased that the Government is planning to take a targeted approach with the Online Advertising Programme, focusing on illegal advertising with a particular focus on children. We also look forward to studying the response in more detail and to supporting the newly announced Taskforce. Judgements about changing the coverage and scope of existing advertising regulations will need to be based on the best available evidence.

The advertising industry strives to support a safe and trusted online environment, and we hope this programme will strengthen the work that industry is already undertaking to protect consumers from illegal harms advertising and to protect under 18s online. In the ASA we also have a recognised world leader in advertising self-regulation, whose role we would hope to see strengthened through this process.

We will support the Taskforce to develop targeted and effective proposals, consistent with the Government's stated ambitions of being pro-innovation and pro-competition in digital markets, and with the policy-making framework set out in the Digital Regulation Plan. This will ensure that the UK advertising industry continues to be a leading sector within our global creative hub.”