Advertising authority asks Freeserve to clearly identify sponsored links on search results

Internet Business News, June 16, 2004

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UK Internet service provider Freeserve has been told to change the way it presents the sponsored links on its search result listings.

The UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received a complaint from a member of the public who said that it was not clear from the search results summary that the results were sponsored links ranked according to the amount of money paid by the sponsors.

In response Freeserve said that all sponsored links were clearly identified through a hyperlink as being delivered by online advertising services provider Overture. Clicking on the hyperlink opened an explanatory pop-up box.

However the ASA felt that consumers were unlikely to realise that the Overture hyperlink indicated that results were sponsored. It asked Freeserve to ensure that sponsored links were more clearly identified in future.

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