London, 14th January 2009 – Advertisers who may have been misled about site statistics and the number of unique visitors to websites have received the solid backing of the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
In a landmark ruling, the ASA has ruled against a website, Contractor UK (www.contractoruk.com), ("CUK"), which was unable to substantiate its claim to have 249,146 unique visitors. The ASA was responding to a complaint by competitor ContractorCalculator (www.contractorcalculator.co.uk), which believed the figures to be grossly overstated. The ASA found that Contractor UK’s claims, which had been used to attract business to the CUK site, were in breach of several key Committee of Advertising Practice Codes (“CAP”) clauses, namely 3.1 (on substantiation), 7.1 (on truthfulness) and 19.1 (on other comparisons).
The ASA in fact found CUK guilty of breaches of CAP Code rules over various further claims about its website, resulting in three separate rulings against Contractor UK overall.
ContractorCalculator CEO Dave Chaplin feels the finding is particularly good news for advertisers. “Contractor UK marketed to its advertisers using figures it has been unable to substantiate, and which appeared to show it had over 170,000 more visitors than it had been claiming just a few days before. In the light of the ASA’s ruling, one would have to question the value of what the advertisers have been paying for.”
Chaplin is keen that the industry now uses this landmark ruling to agree on best practice and a impose a level playing field for all: “Self regulation of our industry through industry agreed standards and independent verification by third party audit will serve to raise confidence in digital media advertising.”
Given the importance of the case, Chaplin turned for assistance to one of the UK’s leading marketing law, e-commerce and IT experts Rafi Azim-Khan, a partner at City law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP. Azim-Khan states: “Most online business models rely heavily on advertising, more and more traditional advertisers are increasing their online presence and spend. However the sector is crying out for clearer standards to audit traffic claims and prevent those making buying decisions or choosing between sites from being misled.” Azim-Khan continues: “This is in many ways a landmark ruling as it makes the key regulator’s position clear. Claims must be capable of substantiation and traffic figures must be independently audited, so site owners should be getting specialist advice before making any traffic or visitor or other website claims, as well as an ABCe certification.”
Explaining the background to the case, Chaplin says: “It all started when we released our ABCe audited figures for March 2008. We were very excited to have verification from ABCe of the 104,584 unique visitors that had come to our site. But our joy was short-lived, because within hours we saw that Contractor UK was claiming to have had 249,146 unique visitors for the same period.
“At that time we believed their claim simply wasn’t credible, especially as only days before they’d been advertising on their site and rate card that they had 79,000 unique visitors in Oct 2007. Plus, our submission to the ASA included verification that Contractor UK had told an independent mystery shopper in April 2008 that Contractor UK only had 55,000 visitors in March 2008!”
For Chaplin, it became a matter of principle to look at the facts and get expert advice on what could be done. “We’ve specialised in this niche sector for nine years and so we flatter ourselves that we know the market pretty well,” Chaplin says. “We simply couldn’t believe the claims that were being made by Contractor UK, nor the dramatic and sudden timing of the claims so soon after our audited 104,584 unique visitor figures went live. Also, having invested a great deal of time and money to become one of the leading sites and give our advertisers the best possible platform, we felt we had to make a stand to protect both our business and the interests of this sector’s advertisers.”
Chaplin concludes: “This is a great step towards the online advertising industry being more open and transparent with the advertisers that use us to market directly to their target audiences. What we’d like to see come from this is that all sites, as a matter of routine, invest in regular ABCe audits, so that we’re all competing on a level playing field. And we’re putting our money where our mouths are, by guaranteeing to advertisers that ContractorCalculator will continue to regularly throw ourselves open to ABCe’s independent and thorough scrutiny.”
In addition to its complaint to the ASA about Contractor UK’s unsubstantiated figures, Pillsbury filed two other complaints for ContractorCalculator, both of which were upheld by the ASA. Contractor UK was also found to have breached ASA Committee of Advertising Practice Codes clauses, namely 3.1 (on substantiation), 7.1 (on truthfulness) and 19.1 (on other comparisons) in claiming to be ‘The UK’s most visited IT contractor site’, and even its statement that it had been ‘Online since 1998’ was found to be ‘misleading’, breaching CAP Code clauses 3.1 (on substantiation) and 7.1 (on truthfulness).
Azim-Khan’s view is that: “This important ruling should serve as a reminder of the spurious claims that can sometimes be made regarding traffic and site popularity, how care must be taken before relying on the same. Here the ASA held not one of CUK’s claims in issue could be substantiated.”
“Advertising buyers should now insist on independent auditing. Website owners should be sure to get audits and seek specialist advice on all claims going forward.”
End of press release (Notes to editors follow)
Notes to editors
1. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is the independent body set up by the advertising industry to police the rules laid down in the advertising codes. The strength of the self-regulatory system lies in both the independence of the ASA and the support and commitment of the advertising industry, through the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP), to the standards of the codes, protecting consumers and creating a level playing field for advertisers. The full ASA ruling is available from http://www.asa.org.uk/Rulings/Adjudications/2009/1/Contractor-UK-Ltd/TF_ADJ_45583.aspx
2. ContractorCalculator.co.uk is a leading UK internet site for contractors and professional freelancers. Independently audited by ABCe, its last audit, in September 2008, showed the site was visited by 113,159 unique visitors, up 8,575 on March 2008’s figure of 104,584.
To arrange an interview with CEO Dave Chaplin:
Tel: 07990 525790
Email: office@contractorcalculator.co.uk
For more information visit: https://www.contractorcalculator.co.uk/ASA_Ruling_ContractorUK.aspx
3. Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP is a major international law firm. Rafi Azim-Khan is a partner in the London office and Head of Marketing Law and IP/IT, Europe. Rafi has been listed as a leader in advertising law for over 15 years and as one of the UK’s ‘Digital Dozen’ e-commerce specialists. He is the co-author of numerous books, including 2008’s Ad Law and E business: the practical guide to the laws. He has experience of many headline IP/Marketing law disputes and ASA investigations, including the O2 ‘Bubbles’ case and the Wilkinson Sword v Gillette’s Global ‘Razor Wars’ disputes.
To arrange an interview with Rafi Azim-Khan:
Tel: +44 (0)20 7847 9519
Email: rafi.azimkhan@pillsburylaw.com
For more information visit: http://www.pillsburylaw.com/rafi.azimkhan