Who: UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), UK Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP), European Commission
Where: United Kingdom
When: 2025 and 2026
Law stated as at: 2 December 2025
A busy regulatory agenda lies ahead in 2026 for advertising and marketing in both the UK and the EU. The general direction of travel is towards protecting children and vulnerable consumers online, tackling misleading influencer marketing practices and “dark pattens”, the disclosure of artificial intelligence (AI) use, improved price transparency and more rigorous scrutiny of environmental claims.
Influencer marketing
The ASA’s ongoing monitoring of influencers’ compliance with the rules on the disclosure of ads in social media posts continues to identify persistent compliance gaps, although there has been some improvement. As a result, the ASA has said that further action is required and that it will apply targeted sanctions for repeated breaches. The ASA has reminded advertisers that all parties in the advertising supply chain – influencers, brands and agencies – share responsibility for the clear disclosure of advertising content. Parties should use platforms’ disclosure tools, mark social media posts with “Ad” or “#ad” and not rely on ad disclosure in bios or other advertising posts. Brand owners engaged in own-brand advertising should be aware that the ASA will only find disclosure “clear by context” if it is absolutely clear that the ad is indeed own‑brand advertising (for example, when the brand name matches the advertiser’s account name). Advertisers should expect more focus from the ASA in this area in 2026.
In the EU, influencer marketing will possibly be one of the themes of the European Commission’s proposal for a Digital Fairness Act (DFA), which is expected to be published in the fourth quarter of 2026. The Commission is concerned about hidden marketing (influencers not clearly labelling ads as ads), the promotion by influencers of potentially harmful products (such as tobacco or vaping, unhealthy food and drink) and the promotion of unrealistic beauty standards. In its consultation on the DFA, the Commission asked various questions on influencer marketing to assess what needs to be done (whether that is new binding legislation in the form of the DFA, more effective enforcement of existing rules or simply the publication of some new guidelines) to prevent these harmful practices by influencers. This would include potentially ensuring that influencer compliance responsibilities are shared with the brands that collaborate with them. Compliance in this space is therefore a topic brands should ensure is covered within their agreements with the influencers and agencies they engage and work with.
The DFA initiative is also expected to address dark patterns, unfair personalisation practices (including the targeting of consumer vulnerabilities for personalised advertising and pricing), pricing practices (“drip pricing”, “starting from” prices in dynamic pricing and misleading percentage or value discounts), addictive design features and problematic features in digital products (such as loot boxes in video games). These could all be areas which businesses will need to spend some time on compliance audits to consider in 2026.
AI: disclosure and enforcement
While there are no specific rules around the use of AI in advertising content in the UK advertising codes, CAP advises that the codes apply to all content, regardless of how it is created. Therefore, ads made using AI are just as subject to the requirements of the codes as ads made using more traditional creative processes. When using AI, CAP suggests that advertisers ask themselves whether the audience would be misled if the use of AI is not disclosed, and, if there is a danger of the ad misleading, whether disclosure would clarify or contradict the ad’s overall message. If the answer is contradiction, advertisers should remember that disclosure will not “cure” or rebut the misleading impression of a fundamentally deceptive message (such as the claimed effects of a product that do not reflect real‑world results) so the ad is at risk of being misleading. CAP does not currently consider AI-specific rules necessary, but encourages marketers to exercise caution around the use of deepfakes in particular, and other AI technology that could potentially mislead the viewers of the ad content in question.
In terms of its own use of AI, marketers should note that the ASA is constantly scaling up its AI‑based Active Ad Monitoring system to proactively identify non‑compliance and take enforcement action where necessary. It recently used its AI system at scale for the first time to identify non-compliance across an entire section of the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct and Promotional Marketing within online advertising. The regulator can now, therefore, move faster to identify and ban irresponsible online ads and its own proactive investigations are forming an increasingly growing proportion of its workload.
Marketers should also be mindful of the EU AI Act’s transparency obligations currently due to come into effect from 2 August 2026 (subject to proposed changes contained in the recently published Digital Omnibus). In November, the Commission also began work on a voluntary code of practice for providers and deployers of generative AI on the marking and labelling of AI-generated content, including deepfakes and other synthetic audio, images, video and text. Eligible stakeholders and experts, facilitated by the AI Office, are expected to finalise the code by summer 2026.
Protection of children
Protecting children remains a core priority for the regulators. In the UK, action by the ASA and CAP has so far focused on protecting under 18s from gambling advertising, as shown by multiple ASA adjudications and CAP’s updated guidance in this area, which sets a higher compliance threshold, introducing a “rule of thumb” for the number of social media followers that will be considered indicative of “strong appeal to children“.
Meanwhile, in the EU, the Digital Services Act prohibits online platforms from displaying ads based on profiling to minors and generally obliges platforms that are accessible to minors to put in place measures to ensure a high level of privacy, safety and security for minors. The Commission has published guidelines to support compliance with these obligations, including in respect of advertising. Providers of online platforms accessible to minors should ensure that:
- Minors are not exposed to harmful, unethical and unlawful advertising. Providers should consider the appropriateness of advertising campaigns for different age groups, addressing their adverse impact and taking adequate security measures to protect minors and ensure that they have access to information that is in their best interests.
- Declarations of commercial communication are clearly visible, child friendly, age appropriate, accessible and consistently used throughout the service; for example, through an icon or a similar sign to clearly indicate that content is advertising.
- Minors are not exposed to hidden or disguised advertising, whether placed by the provider itself or its users.
The guidelines are not binding on providers, but they will act as a benchmark for compliance. In any event, there is appetite in the EU for the digital rules in general to go further to protect children. The current proposals for the DFA reflect this to a certain extent, but 2026 may also result in additional legislative or non-regulatory measures being taken to protect minors.
Price transparency under the DMCCA
The UK Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act’s (DMCCA) unfair commercial practices provisions have been fully in force since April, prohibiting practices such as drip pricing and fake reviews. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) now has direct enforcement powers, which include the power to impose significant fines, and the CMA is not hesitating to use them – focusing its initial enforcement action on online pricing practices such as drip pricing and pressure selling. Taking action to ensure compliance should be a key aim for advertisers in 2026 in order to avoid CMA scrutiny for their own websites and pricing practices.
Subscriptions
Advertisers also need to be aware that the DMCCA introduces a new regime for paid business-to-consumer subscription contracts that includes rules on providing certain pre‑contract information, sending renewal reminders and making cancellation of subscription contracts simpler. The regime is expected to come into effect in autumn 2026, with further detail to be set out in secondary legislation and guidance.
In the EU, the DFA is expected to address problems with digital contracts, including subscription cancellation processes that are difficult to navigate, auto-renewals of subscriptions and free trials that automatically convert into paid subscriptions without the consumer having to do anything.
Restrictions on less healthy food and drink advertising
The UK’s restrictions on the advertising of less healthy food and drink will take legal effect from 5 January 2026, following a delay to provide for an explicit exemption for pure “brand advertising“. The regime introduces a 21:00 watershed on broadcast TV and a total ban on paid‑for advertising of in‑scope products online. In practice, industry had already committed to comply from October 2025, but the ASA has confirmed that it will not enforce until the restrictions formally commence in January 2026. CAP has published new advertising guidance to help marketers’ understand how the ASA is likely to apply the rules.
Tobacco and vapes
The UK Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which aims to create a “smoke-free generation”, among other things, suggests banning vapes and nicotine products from being deliberately branded, promoted and advertised to children. The bill is progressing through Parliament, currently at the report stage in the House of Lords.
Green claims
The ASA has reiterated its commitment to the Climate Change and Environment project and is prioritising action on ads for carbon neutrality and net zero, greener homes, fast fashion, transport and travel, energy, green disposal and meat, dairy and plant-based alternatives. CAP’s recent series of guidance notes on environmental claims covered the homes, cruise and aviation industries. The ASA and CAP are therefore showing an ongoing commitment to tackle greenwashing in 2026.
In the EU, the proposal for a Green Claims Directive, which would oblige companies to provide verified evidence for any green claims made among other things, is currently on hold following the Commission’s attempt to withdraw the directive. According to the Commission’s 2026 work programme the proposal remains pending.
Why this matters: Businesses face a complex advertising and marketing compliance landscape in 2026, with different requirements for the EU and the UK. Influencer marketing, pricing practices and dark patterns are all facing action from the legislature in both the UK and the EU, requiring attention from brands, influencers and others in the advertising chain alike. Compliance is key and it should also be remembered that while AI presents multiple benefits, it must be used responsibly to avoid scrutiny from the regulators. In addition, sector-specific restrictions will impact businesses marketing food, beverage, and vape and tobacco products. As ever, environmental claims also remain under intense scrutiny. There is a lot businesses should focus compliance audits on in the new year ahead to ensure that their websites, campaigns and practices do not attract regulator attention, especially with the regulators themselves using AI-assisted tools to aid their sector scrutiny and search for non-compliant advertisers.
