Advertising Law Principles and Practices I Series 2: Not Just an “Advertising”; But Communication, Strategy, Economic Growth, and Stability

The European Commission Eurostat* has published data on internet advertising for the year 2024!

*Eurostat produces European statistics in partnership with National Statistical Institutes and other national authorities in the EU Member States.

The data, updated and released in April 2025, reveals several striking findings, including:

- “Nearly half of EU enterprises (47.70 %) in information and communication paid for internet ads in 2024.

- Nearly 1 out of 3 (32.59 %) enterprises in the EU used paid internet advertising in 2024.

- Some 76.83% of EU enterprises that paid to advertise on the internet, used information from the content of internet surfers’ webpages or keywords from their queries to identify the audience accurately before sending relevant ads. In 4 EU countries this type of advertising was used by more than 80% of enterprises that have paid for internet ads in 2024.

- Contextual advertising was the most popular type of internet advertising regardless of the enterprise size class and was used by 40.60% of large, 32.22% of medium and 23.94% of small enterprises.

As these figures demonstrate, the concept of “advertising” or in other words “customer communication” has shifted from being a “nice to have” to a “must-have”. Advertising, which can transform virtually any internet user into a target audience, is essentially “customer communication.” It now holds an almost vital position in companies’ economic growth strategies and their broader plans for employment and stability.

Moreover, considering that even a single piece of information circulating online today can serve an advertising function, regulatory bodies are increasingly intensifying their efforts and implementations to protect fair trade and consumer rights.

Therefore, having a sound customer communication or advertising strategy today goes beyond just working with a talented creative director. Of course, creativity continues to be extremely valuable - and I think it should be! However, in order to provide greater protection to business processes; legal protection of the strategy or minimizing risks through an understanding of advertising law principles and practices is becoming ever more valuable. Indeed, this helps identifying potential risks in advance and granting project approval within a profit/loss analysis framework. Otherwise, as in the case of Turkey, companies may face administrative fines in the millions, and projects that have consumed both budget and labor may become unusable.

Supporting this note, several decisions from the Advertising Board Meeting dated February 13, 2025, are noteworthy:

- Under the file below, an advertiser was fined an administrative penalty of more than two million, an amount might be considered record-breaking.

A globally active company, well known in Turkey for its cosmetic, personal care, and cleaning products, was subject to the Advertising Board examination for its advertisements concerning its powder detergent. During the investigation, it was found that the claims made in the advertisements (e.g., cleaning power, preference, etc.) could not be substantiated as required by the legislation. As a result, phrases such as “Let’s see how (X)’s superior performance can help your budget” and “While competitors can clean with 2 doses, (X) cleans with 1 dose according to household preferences” were deemed misleading and in violation of advertising regulations. Consequently, the advertiser was ordered to cease the ads and pay a TRY 2,210,000 TL administrative fine.

- In another case, a broader assessment of advertiser responsibility was made. It was emphasized that the advertiser must act as a “prudent merchant,” and due to actions contrary to this expectation, a fine in the amount of TRY 600,000 was imposed:

The case involved a pop-up ad on the company's website offering a “500 TRY Trial Bonus or 500 TRY Worth of Freespins” which directed consumers to a betting site. These promotions were deemed to arouse the curiosity of football fans and encourage illegal gambling. Although the company claimed the ads were unauthorized and represented a different business area, the Board’s approach was significant: “Citing the principle that ‘Every trader must act with the diligence of a prudent businessman in all commercial activities.’ the firm was held directly responsible and sanctioned with both a fine and an order to cease the ads.”

- In a third case, the Advertising Board demonstrated its unwillingness to accept “technical error” defenses:

On one of Turkey’s largest e-commerce sites, it was found that product pages for items marked (X) displayed messages offering 3–6 installments with certain credit cards, whereas similar products did not provide this benefit for two different credit cards. The advertiser claimed that the installment option was conditional, and the campaign was shown only where terms were met, stating that the discrepancy was due to a technical glitch. However, because this information was not clearly, understandably, and accessibly provided to consumers -and because the promised installment option was not honored- the Board found a violation and rejected the technical error defense. The company was fined 863,580 TL and ordered to stop the ads.

As seen, the faster customer communication evolves via internet and other means, the deeper the Advertising Board delves into scrutiny and enforcement. In this context, progressing under legal safeguards -or at minimum, with pre-analyzed risk assessments- is becoming increasingly crucial. Walking hand-in-hand with advertising law principles is more important than ever.

Further reviews of advertising legislation practices will follow...