All articles tagged with #advertising standards
Britain's Advertising Standards Authority banned Activision Blizzard UK's Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 advert after upholding 11 complaints that it trivialised sexual violence; the regulator said the humour came from humiliation and implied non-consensual penetration, and ordered the ad not to appear in its current form, while complaints about drug use were not upheld.
Google has issued refunds to marketers after being accused of selling low-quality ads on third-party websites. An Adalytics study found that Google violated its own advertising standards approximately 80% of the time. The study accused Google of misleading advertisers by playing premium ads without audio, placing ads in low-value areas, placing ads in automatically-played videos, and placing ads on websites that don't meet Google's standards for monetization. Companies impacted include small businesses, Fortune 500 companies, and even the U.S. Federal Government. Marketers have expressed regret over purchasing Google's True View ad product. Google has defended itself, stating that it sometimes issues credits to advertisers as part of ongoing relationship building.
Advertising standards officials have dismissed a complaint about a Diablo 4 billboard in Melbourne, which a person claimed reminded them of the "hell" of lockdown and caused offense to Christians. The Ad Standards Community Panel dismissed the complaint, noting the comma between "hell" and "Melbourne" and stating that the ad does not imply the city itself is hell. The panel also compared the image of the game's antagonist to Disney's Maleficent and highlighted other odd stories surrounding Diablo 4. The game has been a commercial success but has faced criticism for its microtransactions.