On September 1, 2022, Law No. 347-FZ on amendments to the law “On Advertising” came into force. The changes affected all formats of digital advertising.
Now all advertising on the Internet needs to be marked, and information about it should be transferred to the Unified Register of Online Advertising through the advertising data operator. Roskomnadzor controls this process.
Starting from September 1, 2023, new fines for non-compliance with the rules for posting advertising materials began to take effect, which may lead to an increase in the number of inspections from the Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Telecom, Information Technologies and Mass Communications (abbreviated in Russian as “Roskomnadzor”).
Acsour lawyers have analyzed this issue and presented a brief legal analysis of the new requirements.
WHAT CAN BE RECOGNIZED AS ADVERTISING?
According to the provisions of the Federal Law No. 38-FZ "On Advertising" dated March 13, 2006, advertising is considered to be information disseminated in any form and using any means aimed at attracting consumers' attention to a product, service, manufacturer or seller, as well as at forming or maintaining interest in them.
The following signs of advertising material can be highlighted:
WHAT KIND OF ADVERTISING IS SUBJECT TO MARKING?
It is necessary to mark all information on the Internet, which is considered advertising and is disseminated in the Russian Federation. For example:
WHAT IS ADVERTISING MARKING?
Marking implies the assignment by the advertising data operator of the advertising identifier, the placement of the mark "advertising" and information about the advertiser on the creative – the manufacturer or seller of the product or service - as well as the transfer of information about advertising to the unified register of online advertising.
In the law “On Advertising” new terms have appeared:
WHAT DOESN'T NEED TO BE MARKED?
Marking requirements are not applied to the following advertising:
The following is not an advertising and, consequently, is not subject to marking:
The Law contains a direct list of cases when information is not recognized as advertising (article 2 of the Law On Advertising). Also, the Federal Antimonopoly Service (the Russian acronym - FAS) of Russia has repeatedly clarified this with specific examples (letter No. AK/45828/15 of the FAS of Russia dated August 28, 2015, letter No. AK/83509/19 "On clarification on the issue of advertising in the information and telecommunications network "Internet" of the FAS of Russia dated September 25, 2019, information of the FAS of Russia dated November 21,2022).
LIABILITY FOR NON-COMPLIANCE WITH ADVERTISING MARKING REQUIREMENTS
Violation of the requirement for registration and marking of advertising may entail the imposition of an administrative fine – for legal entities in the amount of 100,000 rubles - 500,000 rubles (part 1 of article 14.3 of the Administrative Code).
The powers to monitor compliance with the requirements for marking advertising on the Internet are assigned to the FAS of Russia and Roskomnadzor.
Acsour monitors changes in the marking requirements for online advertising. In the matters of compliance with legislation in this area, please contact Acsour experts.
Now all advertising on the Internet needs to be marked, and information about it should be transferred to the Unified Register of Online Advertising through the advertising data operator. Roskomnadzor controls this process.
Starting from September 1, 2023, new fines for non-compliance with the rules for posting advertising materials began to take effect, which may lead to an increase in the number of inspections from the Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Telecom, Information Technologies and Mass Communications (abbreviated in Russian as “Roskomnadzor”).
Acsour lawyers have analyzed this issue and presented a brief legal analysis of the new requirements.
WHAT CAN BE RECOGNIZED AS ADVERTISING?
According to the provisions of the Federal Law No. 38-FZ "On Advertising" dated March 13, 2006, advertising is considered to be information disseminated in any form and using any means aimed at attracting consumers' attention to a product, service, manufacturer or seller, as well as at forming or maintaining interest in them.
The following signs of advertising material can be highlighted:
- commercial purpose of dissemination: the material is created in order to attract the attention and interest of potential clients;
- call for action: motivates to perform a certain action;
- identification: the material explicitly indicates the advertiser or brand;
- dissemination: the material can be posted on various platforms and channels, including television, radio, newspapers, magazines, the Internet and social networks.
WHAT KIND OF ADVERTISING IS SUBJECT TO MARKING?
It is necessary to mark all information on the Internet, which is considered advertising and is disseminated in the Russian Federation. For example:
- targeted, contextual, video advertising;
- posts, live broadcasts, stories in social networks;
- hyperlinks, teasers, QR codes that draw users' attention to the object.
WHAT IS ADVERTISING MARKING?
Marking implies the assignment by the advertising data operator of the advertising identifier, the placement of the mark "advertising" and information about the advertiser on the creative – the manufacturer or seller of the product or service - as well as the transfer of information about advertising to the unified register of online advertising.
In the law “On Advertising” new terms have appeared:
- unified register of online advertising (UROA) is an online advertising accounting system operated by Roskomnadzor;
- advertising data operator (ADO) is a service that collects data about the participants of the advertising chain and transfers them to the UROA;
- operator of the advertising system (OAS) is actually the advertising system itself, for example, Yandex or VKontakte;
- token is a numeric identifier that is assigned to the advertising creatives.
WHAT DOESN'T NEED TO BE MARKED?
Marking requirements are not applied to the following advertising:
- social advertising;
- advertising of own products in mailouts and push notifications - marking is required, but transferring information to the UROA is not;
- advertising as part of TV and radio broadcasts, which is displayed on the Internet without changes compared to the original source.
The following is not an advertising and, consequently, is not subject to marking:
- information and analytical materials;
- information, disclosure or dissemination or communication to the consumer of which is mandatory in accordance with federal law;
- mailouts;
- advertisements of legal entities that are not associated with the implementation of business activities;
- search engine output of a list of hyperlinks to various sources of information;
- posting of information about the product/service on the marketplace in the product/service card;
- reports of state authorities.
The Law contains a direct list of cases when information is not recognized as advertising (article 2 of the Law On Advertising). Also, the Federal Antimonopoly Service (the Russian acronym - FAS) of Russia has repeatedly clarified this with specific examples (letter No. AK/45828/15 of the FAS of Russia dated August 28, 2015, letter No. AK/83509/19 "On clarification on the issue of advertising in the information and telecommunications network "Internet" of the FAS of Russia dated September 25, 2019, information of the FAS of Russia dated November 21,2022).
LIABILITY FOR NON-COMPLIANCE WITH ADVERTISING MARKING REQUIREMENTS
Violation of the requirement for registration and marking of advertising may entail the imposition of an administrative fine – for legal entities in the amount of 100,000 rubles - 500,000 rubles (part 1 of article 14.3 of the Administrative Code).
The powers to monitor compliance with the requirements for marking advertising on the Internet are assigned to the FAS of Russia and Roskomnadzor.
Acsour monitors changes in the marking requirements for online advertising. In the matters of compliance with legislation in this area, please contact Acsour experts.
