FTC Posts Endorsement Guide FAQs

Yesterday, the Federal Trade Commission released answers to frequently asked questions about its Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. These FAQs provide helpful additional guidance regarding the FTC’s revisions to the Guides.  Key issues addressed by the FAQs include: Read more »

FTC Approves Google Purchase of AdMob

The Federal Trade Commission voted five to zero to give regulatory approval to Google’s acquisition of the mobile advertising network AdMob. The deal was first announced last November. The Commission concluded the acquisition is unlikely to harm competition in the mobile advertising networks market. The Commission relied on recent evidence demonstrating Apple will be a strong competitor in the mobile advertising market. (Apple recently acquired Quattro Wireless for use in connection with the Apple iAd service.) The deal may signal increased interest in acquiring businesses in the digital advertising space — Gavin D. McElroy

Maine Ready to Repeal Online Marketing Law

We reported last year about the passage by Maine of a sweeping law governing online marketing to minors under 18 years old. After being challenged as unconstitutional by a coalition of major Internet companies that included Yahoo and AOL,  a committee of the Maine legislature last week voted to repeal the law, according to a report in Media Post. The full Maine legislature will vote on the repeal in the coming weeks, according to the article.

Legal Win for Google AdWords

A California federal court has handed Google a legal victory in a battle over its successful AdWords platform. 

The plaintiff in Jurin v. Google Inc. sells building materials to contractors and homeowners. Plaintiff sells the materials under its ”StyroTrim” trademark. The plaintiff was upset to learn that Google’s AdWords program had “suggested” StyroTrim as a keyword. Competitors allegedly bid on the term and then appeared in the “sponsored links” accompanying searches for StyroTrim — sometimes in a higher “position” than Jurin’s company. Plaintiff alleged Google’s AdWords infringed the StyroTrim trademark and constituted false advertising under the Lanham Act. Plaintiff also alleged the AdWords “sponsored links” constituted a “false designation of [the] origin [of Styrotrim materials]” under that act. Finally, plaintiff claimed Google had negligently and intentionally interfered with plaintiff’s contractual relations with its customers. Google moved to dismiss these claims. Read more »

Who Owns the Software and Software Tools Undergirding Digital Ads?

More Ideas on How to Rate Web Site Privacy

Last week we wrote of an interesting proposal by major advertisers to append a stylized “i” to online ads that rely on consumer online behavior data. Now the Mozilla Foundation, the organization behind the Firefox Web browser, is designing a standard set of colored icons to reveal how data-protective — or how intrusive — Web sites are.  Mozilla’s hope is to use the leverage it has through its popular browser to convince Web publishers to disclose their privacy practices in a standard way. What might the Mozilla privacy icons look like? The Mozilla Foundation posted these graphics: Read more »

A New Tag for Online Ads?

Stephanie Clifford reports in today’s The New York Times on an interesting development in the online privacy wars. According to the article, several major advertisers are considering appending a stylized ”i” icon to their online ads that rely on consumer online behavioral data. The initiative would begin this summer. The icon was developed by the Future of Privacy Forum. A consumer who clicks on the icon will receive information explaining how the advertiser used the consumer’s Web surfing history and demographic information to target him or her for the ad. Advertisers hope this new effort at self-regulation can help the industry stave off potential FTC regulation.

Who Owns Interactive Advertising Data?

It’s been one of the hottest open issues for advertisers and online publishers: who owns the data on how consumers responded to an online campaign? And when can an advertiser or a media company repurpose data and retarget consumers? There’s a lot of money and privacy at stake, and to help bring more clarity, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and the Association of American Advertising Agencies (4As) teamed up on a comprehensive update of their “Standard Terms and Conditions for Interactive Advertising for Media Buys One Year or Less (STCs)” –  the model contract for online media purchases.  Our friends at MediaPost first reported the news here, and IAB’s press release is here. Read more »