New regulations mean that from March 2011 companies will be subject to strict advertising rules as the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) extends its power over online marketing. In 2008 there were over 4500 complaints about internet marketing communications that the ASA did not have the authority to deal with. They will now be able to force marketers to remove any content or online advert found to be in breach of its regulations, giving the consumer much more protection.

False claims and misleading statements on websites, as well as untrue price comparison sites will be under the ASA’s control. These new regulations will give the ASA the capacity to position their own adverts in place of those of noncompliant advertisers. Companies that flout these rules will receive substantial negative publicity from the ASA which can damage an advertiser’s reputation.

Marketing statements on Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites will also be covered by the new regulations. This means that marketers will have to be careful to ensure that no offence is caused and that no misleading statements are used. Using foul language or sending malicious comments from official company accounts will result in complaints and possibly fines from the ASA.

Internet giant Google has provided extra funding for this extended remit and is completely co-operating with the ASA to help make the Internet a much safer place for the consumer. These regulations will provide an interesting challenge for marketers as some will have to change their current practices to comply.

2009 was a landmark year for online marketing. The first six months of the year saw online ad spend overtake television to become the UK’s largest advertising sector for the first time. It was predicted that this trend would continue into 2010.

A recent report from the Internet Advertising Bureau, PricewaterhouseCoopers and the World Advertising Research Centre, has found that online ad spend in 2009 went on to surpass predictions, reaching £3.5 billion (a total increase in spend of 4.2% over the year). Online advertising has continued strengthening its position as the largest advertising sector into 2010 and has proven itself not to be just a blip, caused by recession-hit companies looking for cheaper ways to advertise, as was suggested by some academics in 2009.

The report shows that spend on paid search (Pay Per Click advertising) rose by 9.5% to £2.15bn in 2009. One of the consequences of this increase is that businesses using Google AdWords and MSN Adcenter to market a business are now competing against more bidders for advert positions and clicks.

One of the most surprising results from the report was the 140% increase in video advertising. This is partly due to companies using the internet to distribute their television adverts and also due to many hoping that a video released on the internet may go “viral”.

The increase in online advertising is thought to be due to the changing habits of UK citizens. The Internet is increasingly becoming a vital part of 21st century life and people are spending more time surfing. The changes in consumer habits towards mainstream Internet use has resulted in innovative marketing from companies that have had to re-think the way they advertise. As the results of the study show, many companies are completely restructuring their advertising strategies to include far more online advertising and turning their backs on the increasingly expensive, hard to track, traditional means of promotion.