US media buying transparency spat between advertiser and agency trade bodies. First the ANA threatened an investigation into whether US media agencies were using media rebates. Then agency body the AAAA unilaterally published a set of “Transparency Principles.” Then the ANA issued a “Statement of dissatisfaction”. Nick Johnson reports.
Following concerns as to whether advantage was being taken of vulnerable consumers, the two leading UK insurance industry bodies have published a new Code of Practice on the treatment of vulnerable consumers on policy renewal. Chloe Dumoulin-Richet reports.
Research commissioned by Ofcom and the ASA into consumer understanding of broadband price advertising has some interesting findings, whilst Ofcom has published a “Voluntary Business Broadband Speeds Code of Practice.” Ben Dunham reports.
Online travel agent Opodo quoted prices for flights that included a pre-applied discount which was only available using pre-pay Visa card Entropay. Was this misleading? Jude King reports.
Cloud storage is used by growing numbers of UK consumers to store photographs, music and documents. Following complaints, the Competition and Markets Authority has launched an investigation into whether service providers are in breach of consumer laws. Ben Dunham investigates.
“14 Laundry Fails we’ve all experienced” was the headline, then appeared “Brand Publisher” and a Dylon logo, but the style was of a BuzzFeed editorial. Was the ad obviously identifiable as such? Stephen Groom reports on the ASA decision.
The Bavarian Data Protection Authority has imposed a five figure fine on both seller and purchaser over alleged unlawful transfers of customer email addresses in an asset purchase deal. Barney Sich reports.
US chain In-N-Out Burger has sued take-out middleman “DoorDash” alleging it is using In-N-Out’s trade marks and selling its food in breach of the chain’s rights. Jamie Heatly reports on a case with interesting implications given the burgeoning takeaway delivery market.
Following a wide review of online advertorials, estimating that online reviews potentially influenced £23bn of consumer spending a year, the CMA is now investigating selective publication of reviews and lack of transparency around those that are published. Ben Poole reports.
Budget airline Ryanair has called on Google to take more action to protect consumers from “lookalike” screenscraper sites. eDreams is one of the sites Ryanair has named, but eDreams denies any wrongdoing. Thomas Spanyol reports.
Following a spot check of the data collection practices of High Street wi-fi services, the UK data regulator’s blog has recently advised the public to be wary of how much personal data the providers of such services collect. George Garrard reports.
Fife-based cabling business Brand-Rex Ltd ran a “Brand Breaks” incentive programme for its distributors and installers, but one installer abused the programme and Brand-Rex reported itself under the Bribery Act 2010. Ben Dunham reports.
