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Articles for Category Tag - Advertising Standards

BT Get Sky Broadband Ad Banned for “Fastest peak time speeds” Claim

16th March, 2016 (1 Comment)

A complaint by BT has caused the Advertising Standards Authority to ban a May 2015 press advert for Sky Broadband’s up to 38Mbps Sky Fibre (FTTC) service, which was found to have misleadingly claimed that it offered the “Fastest peak time speeds measured by Ofcom.”

ASA Ban PlusNet Advert for Misleading “Totally Unlimited” Broadband Claim

9th March, 2016 (7 Comments)

The Advertising Standards Authority has banned an old website advert for Plusnet’s broadband packages, which “misleadingly” claimed to offer a “TOTALLY UNLIMITED” and “Truly unlimited” service with no usage limits. But in reality there was a poorly explained traffic management policy.

Virgin Media Adverts Still Can’t Tell Copper Coax from Fibre Optic

7th March, 2016 (52 Comments)

The seemingly endless debate about the pros and cons of advertising hybrid-fibre broadband connections as “fibre optic” has once again reared its head after a number of refreshed adverts for Virgin Media’s cable network began promoting their service as “optical fibre” alongside pictures of what is clearly a copper core coaxial cable.

Whoopsie – BT Openreach Advert Claims UK Invented the Internet

16th February, 2016 (3 Comments)

Most people with IT knowledge know that the Internet stemmed from a 1960’s project in the United States (ARPANET), but apparently nobody told BTOpenreach (you know.. that company responsible for phone and Internet services) after one of their adverts hailed the UK as the “country that invented the internet“. Oops.

BT and Sky Get Virgin Media Ads Banned for Best Streaming and Hub Claim

10th February, 2016 (1 Comment)

BT and Sky Broadband have successfully lobbied the Advertising Standards Authority to ban three adverts for Virgin Media’s broadband, which misleadingly claimed that the cable ISP was the best for “streaming” (e.g. Netflix) and that it also offered a “faster wireless hub” (router) than the others.

ASA Reverse Old Decision and Bans O2 UK Advert for Misleading Price

3rd February, 2016 (5 Comments)

The Advertising Standards Authority has reversed an old decision by choosing to ban an early 2014 press advert for one of O2’s mobile tariffs, which was found to mislead because of small print that contradicted the headline cost by pointing to an RPI (inflation) linked price rise.

Three UK Advert Banned for Misleading “Lowest Price” Claim

3rd February, 2016 (3 Comments)

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned a banner advert for Three UK’s service after it misleadingly claimed to offer the “UK’s lowest price” on a tariff that bundled in the Samsung Galaxy S6 Smartphone for £35 per month. Except it wasn’t the cheapest.

ASA UK Says Broadband ISP Speed Complaints Have Dropped by Half

27th January, 2016 (0 Comments)

It’s nearly four years since the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) first introduced tougher rules to tackle misleading promotions of broadband ISP speed (here) and the organisation seems unlikely to toughen its stance again, especially with related complaints falling by half. Meanwhile Ofcom’s new speed rules are about to be enforced.

Alarm and Acceptance – Broadband ISPs React to New Advertising Rules

23rd January, 2016 (2 Comments)

Internet providers from across the United Kingdom have today given a deeply divided reaction to the recent proposals from Ofcom and the Advertising Standards Authority, which among other things could soon force providers to combine the cost of broadband and line rental (phone) into a single price.

Broadband ISPs Face New Advertising Rules to Stop Misleading Prices

21st January, 2016 (16 Comments)

A new joint study from Ofcom and the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled that the current approach to broadband price advertising is “likely to mislead” and as a result UK ISPs will, from 30th May 2016, be forced to adapt their approach. But the new approach may create some problems of its own.

The 2015 Worst UK Home Broadband ISPs for Advertising Complaints

29th December, 2015 (2 Comments)

Some broadband ISPs are worse than others when it comes to “misleading” promotions of their services. So, as we prepare to bid farewell to another year, ISPreview.co.uk takes a quick look back over the past 12 months to see which providers suffered the most bans for bad advertising.

Citizens Advice Says Broadband ISP Adverts Mislead and Confuse People

23rd December, 2015 (9 Comments)

Once again the Citizens Advice agency has claimed that “misleading adverts” for home broadband packages are making it “too difficult” for consumers to work out which promotion is the cheapest. But their proposed fix of forcing ISPs to include line rental into a single price could create new problems.

ASA Ban Misleading “FREE” BT Sport TV and Broadband Bundle Adverts

18th November, 2015 (1 Comment)

Several members of the public and Sky (Sky Broadband) have succeeded in getting the Advertising Standards Authority to ban a press, website, poster and TV ad for BT’s various TV and broadband bundles, all of which claimed that BTSport was “free” even though there were caveats and contradictions galore.

Sky Broadband Adverts Banned for False “Best Customer Service” Claim

11th November, 2015 (0 Comments)

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned both a regional press and website advert for the Sky Broadband and Talk services after Virgin Media complained that the promotions misleadingly claimed that Sky offered the “best customer service” of any ISP, which could not be fully substantiated.

UK ISP TalkTalk Coughs to Misleading Savings on Leaflet Advert

10th November, 2015 (8 Comments)

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has confirmed that they’ve opened an investigation after TalkTalk admitted that they’d got the pricing wrong on one of their snail mailed leaflet adverts, which promised that new customers could “save up to £476 vs BT, [Sky Broadband] and [Virgin Media]“.

Vodafone Ad Banned for Misleading “unbeatable” Call Reliability Claim

2nd September, 2015 (1 Comment)

The Advertising Standards Authority has banned a national press and website advert for Vodafone’s mobile network after Three UK complained that the promotions could not substantiate the claims of being “unbeatable at connecting your calls” and “unbeatable at keeping your calls connected“.

France Rules Against Misuse of “Fibre Optic Broadband” in ISP Adverts

29th July, 2015 (9 Comments)

The debate over whether or not broadband ISPs that don’t sell a pure “fibre optic” (FTTH/P) broadband connection should be allowed to use such terminology in their adverts is nothing new, but a new ruling by the Government of France shows that some countries are taking a stand.