Who: The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA)
Where: United Kingdom
When: 11 April 2024
Law stated as at: 21 May 2024
What happened:
The ASA’s Annual Report 2023 has revealed its progress in using artificial intelligence (AI) to deliver significant impact on regulation of UK online advertising. This is a watershed year for the ASA in terms of digital transformation, with the regulator determined to build and deploy tech-enabled tools to proactively monitor online advertising.
Active Ad Monitoring system
With the launch of the Active Ad Monitoring system in 2023, the ASA is now able to review more than 600,000 ads per month, and these figures are expected to grow as the system further develops. This machine learning technology has shifted the regulator from complaints-led investigations to “front foot” monitoring and enforcement action. In 2023, 3 million ads were processed by this system, with more than 10 million expected in 2024, which shows the remarkable impact this is having on the sector.
How does it work?
The system works by capturing and processing large volumes of online ads at scale from a variety of channels, such as social media and search and display, and uses in-house machine learning models to monitor ads and prioritise those that are likely to be problematic. These machine learning models have been developed with input from expert staff at the ASA. This saves a significant amount of time and enables problematic ads to be shared with experts who can review and, if necessary, take action.
Regulatory impact
The Active Ad Monitoring system is having a significant impact on regulating UK advertising, as it can spot and tackle irresponsible ads more quickly, allowing experts to make more informed decisions. This new technology has allowed the ASA to focus more on tackling ad-related societal concerns such as green claims, youth vaping, body image, gambling and prescription-only medicines. This feeds into the ASA taking a more holistic approach to issues that cause most harm to people, which the Active Ad Monitoring system is helping to progress.
Furthermore, it has expanded visibility of online advertising and provides intelligence to the ASA on where compliance with the Advertising Code is high, which is increasingly core to how the ASA functions. AI tech is an essential part of being an effective regulator of online advertising, which is demonstrated by the system’s role in the total number of amended and withdrawn ads and its contribution to 23 of the ASA’s published formal investigations.
The ASA has stated that it is committed to continuing to develop this system, incorporating more data, expanding topics and integrating it further into their work.
Why this matters:
Businesses should be aware of the ASA’s increased capability and resource, as a result of the Active Ad Monitoring system. The system is helping tackle irresponsible ads, especially clamping down on green claims, gambling advertising and influencer ad disclosure, among other issues that cause most harm to individuals.
The ASA will be taking a more proactive approach to monitoring and enforcement. Companies should be aware of this increased activity and help prepare their marketing and advertising teams to ensure compliance.
