Note: This advice is given by the CAP Executive about non-broadcast advertising. It does not constitute legal advice. It does not bind CAP, CAP advisory panels or the Advertising Standards Authority.
Some Internet search engines do not list results entirely according to the relevance of the specified search criteria. If search engines list according to payment, it should be clear that the list includes “sponsored links” (Freeserve plc, 16 June 2004).
The ASA considers that search engine results that appear in a list of “sponsored links” fall within the scope of the CAP Code and has investigated claims in those short ads (Yorktest Laboratories Ltd, 24 October 2007, Caine Ltd, 15 August 2007, Online Turf Ltd, 11 October 2006, and Rolawn Ltd, 6 December 2006).
See ‘Internet: Search Engines’.
Last modified : 29 June 2010