Skip to content

What counts as advertising on the internet

What counts as advertising on the internet

According to the legislation, any content on the internet can be considered advertising if it:

  • is distributed on the internet in any form and by any means;
  • attracts attention to what is being advertised, shapes or maintains interest in the object, and promotes it in the market (Paragraph 1, Article 3 from No. 1, 3 Articles from No. 38-FZ of 13.03.2006).

What specifically needs to be labeled?

  • Advertising posts, publications, or content created for the purpose of promoting goods/services.
  • Hyperlinks, UTM parameters, QR codes, if their purpose is to attract attention to the advertising object and generate interest in a product/service.
  • Blogs and vlogs: Authors must indicate when their content is promotional.
  • Product placement: Displaying products as props or in the background, as well as mentioning products in creative works.
  • Sponsorship: If content is created with sponsor support, it must also be clearly marked so the audience knows that part of the content is linked to a specific sponsor.
  • Advertising in search engines: Such ads must also be labeled as promotional so that users can distinguish them from natural search results.
  • Targeted advertising: VK Ads, Telegram Ads.
  • Button links that function as advertising banners.
  • SEO articles and press releases. If an article or release is informational for introductory purposes, it is not considered advertising. However, if the materials provide information about a product, discuss its benefits, and point to resources where it can be purchased, this is advertising.

How does it work with native advertising by bloggers on social networks and Telegram?

This kind of advertising must also be marked. Here's how to do it:

  • The blogger, advertising agency, or the final advertiser should obtain a token and report the ad placement. The one who received the token must provide statistics on the creative. It must be decided in advance who will register the creative, and they should be specified in the contract.
  • The label should clearly state "Advertisement," include the name of the legal entity, the advertiser, or the website, and also display the token.
  • If the integration includes a clickable link, the token must be added in the format https://adstat.pro/?erid=xxxxx.
  • In video advertising, the token label should be placed at the beginning and/or over the video.

What does not need to be marked?

There are several materials that do not require marking and accounting. These include:

  • Advertising from TV and radio broadcasts, if it is published online without changes.
  • Advertising for a company's own products/services in email newsletters and push notifications.

Also, information placed in directories or catalogs, such as Avito, CIAN, etc., is not considered advertising.

Is self-advertising considered advertising?

To answer this question, let's look at what self-advertising means in the context of marking laws.

For example You own an online store selling construction goods. To draw attention to tools from a specific brand, you decided to place a banner on all pages in the "Tools" category. The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) might consider such a banner to be advertising.

Therefore, you will need to add an "Advertisement" marker to the banner, specify the advertiser, and an identifier. In this case, the advertiser choosing the object of advertising and the advertising distributor will be the same entity.

This situation is currently referred to as "self-advertising." In this case, you won't need a contract or an act for data transmission to Roskomnadzor.

Exclusion: Who the law does not apply to

In accordance with Government Resolution No. 948 dated 25.05.2022, certain advertisers are not required to mark their advertisements. Specifically:

Advertisers who hold exclusive rights to the objects of advertising and/or are the manufacturers or sellers of the goods may exempt themselves from these responsibilities. This is only possible if the responsibilities for marking and recording online advertising are delegated to the counterparty under the contract. By default, advertisers are not relieved of responsibility. Only a properly drafted contract with a contractor can protect them.