Category Archives: Behavioural Advertising

February 4, 2022

United States Federal Trade Commission Enforcement in Novel Online Reviews Algorithm Case and Potential Implications for Canada

Practical Law Canada Competition, of which I am Lawyer Editor, published a new Legal Update, which discusses potential implications in Canadian competition law regarding false and misleading advertising and algorithms following a recent enforcement decision by the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) against Fashion … Read the rest of this entry »

March 6, 2020

New Competition Bureau Deceptive Marketing Practices Digest: Priorities Include Misleading Data Privacy Claims

Practical Law Canada Competition has published a New Legal Update, which discusses the Competition Bureau’s new Deceptive Marketing Practices Digest, including the following key current Bureau advertising enforcement priorities: false or misleading data privacy claims, weight loss claims and online pricing and drip pricing. All … Read the rest of this entry »

January 17, 2020

Competition Bureau Investigates Novel Case Involving Political Parties’ Use of Personal Information

In an interesting and rather novel case, the Competition Bureau (Bureau) is reportedly investigating whether three major Canadian political parties (the Liberal, Conservative and NDP parties) violated the Competition Act in relation to their collection and use of Canadians’ personal information. According to media reports … Read the rest of this entry »

January 12, 2020

Influencer Advertising: Competition Act Compliance Now a Material Concern For Brands and Agencies

Over the past several years, competition enforcement agencies have been increasing their scrutiny of false and misleading influencer marketing.  The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) initially led the charge in terms of guidance and enforcement, which included its Endorsement Guides, Endorsement Guides FAQs and warning … Read the rest of this entry »

June 13, 2015

Guest Post: U.S. FTC Updates FAQs on Endorsements and Testimonials in Social Media

Major enforcement agencies, notably in the United States (U.S. FTC) and Canada (Competition Bureau have been increasingly focusing on misleading online testimonials and disclaimers. In this respect, earlier this week Canada’s Competition Bureau launched a new advertising law publication with the first issue focusing on … Read the rest of this entry »

June 11, 2015

Competition Bureau Highlights Priorities, Compliance Guidelines in New Advertising Publication

The Canadian Competition Bureau has been increasing its advocacy, outreach and compliance efforts since the (relatively) new Commissioner of Competition (John Pecman) took office. As part of this effort, it appears to be focusing on introducing more new media (and also an increasing range) of … Read the rest of this entry »

December 10, 2012

U.S. Federal Trade Commission Issues Second Report on Kids’ Apps and Privacy, Launches Investigations

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued a very interesting new report on kids’ apps and privacy entitled: Mobile Apps for Kids: Disclosures Still Not Making the Grade (see: here and here) (and announced new investigations).  The FTC’s new report examines the privacy disclosures … Read the rest of this entry »

October 23, 2012

Advertising & Privacy: The Future is Here: U.S. Federal Trade Commission Publishes Facial Recognition Technologies Report

“In the 2002 film Minority Report, Steven Spielberg imagined a world in which companies use biometric technology to identify us and serve us targeted ads.  Ten years later, that vision is coming closer to reality.  Having overcome the high costs and poor accuracy that once … Read the rest of this entry »