Should the ASA involve itself in policing online advertising?(Advertising Standards Authority)(Brief Article)

Is there a place for the ASA's proposed admark scheme? Alasdair Reid investigates

So far this year, the Advertising Standards Authority has received more than 300 complaints about online advertising. Which, given the nature of the medium, is an astounding figure. Have these people nothing better to do? What can they find to complain about in banner advertising?

With your average letterbox-shaped bit of typography garnished with some sort of (often modest) graphic, there's surely not much scope to offend even the most sensitive of sensibilities. We don't need the ASA getting involved, do we?

The ASA obviously thinks we do. And this issue is not as simple as you would think. The contentious area here isn't taste and decency--the majority of complaints are from consumers who feel they have been misled or presented with claims that can't be substantiated.

Only 25 per cent are from people who have been offended. That, as the ASA points out, reflects the situation in the offline world, where advertisers' claims are the biggest source of complaints too.

It's not too hard to extend this argument. As the line blurs between many aspects of online and offline advertising, there's a case for the same codes of practice applying across the board.

Which is why the ASA last week moved to clarify what its existing codes cover when it comes to the online sector -- it has also launched a "kitemark" scheme that it hopes will be of interest to advertisers using banner, e-mail marketing and promotions.