As digital advertising has witnessed an exponential rise over the past couple of years, the challenges of the advertising standard council of India (ASCI) have also gone up. 

Tracking misleading campaigns across the digital universe is far trickier than scrutinising those on mainstream TV and print media.

While a large number of brands, especially startups and SMBs, advertise on social media only, making the sheer number of digital advertisers huge, digital ads are created and replaced quickly, making ASCI's job even more challenging.

The self-regulatory organization has deployed AI-based software that identifies a whopping 45,000 digital campaigns a month for violations of various codes. This is almost double compared to the numbers two years ago.

“Out of 45,000, on average 500 ads are taken up for further probe every month,” says Manisha Kapoor, CEO and Secretary General of the industry’s self-regulatory body.
Besides proactive monitoring, ASCI also receives plenty of consumer complaints against misleading ads on digital platforms, thanks to increasing awareness and sensitivity among Indians.

“Digital ads account for almost half of the cases that ASCI deals with, followed by Print (47%) and then TV (3%). Radio and outdoor campaigns rarely land in trouble as they are much smaller platforms compared to others”, Kapoor points out, highlighting the scale and scope of ASCI’s work in the expanding digital ad market in India.

How does the AI software work?

The Meta library of ads on the internet lists every campaign in the digital universe. The AI-based software red flags only those ads which use certain keywords that are generally used by advertisers to mislead consumers.

Kapoor explains, “For instance, in the food category, the software can track ads that carry the 'immunity booster' phrase. Similarly, in the education category, '100 % jobs' is the catchword. Unless the brands submit solid evidence to prove their claims, such ads are considered misleading.”

Instagram tops in misleading ads

Over 80 percent of misleading ads were floated on leading social media platforms led by Instagram (43%), followed by YouTube (28%), Twitter (6%) and Facebook (3%), ASCI’s data reflects. Websites (18%) also contribute to propagating misleading ads, Kapoor explains.

Kapoor adds that disguised advertising on social media is another challenge for the self-regulatory body, “Many digital ads mimic content. Influencers and blog writers are making ASCI’s jobs even tougher.”

The software also has a certain limitation when it comes to audio ads. “Audio and outdoor are much smaller platforms. Even though our software can’t scan audio ads, we take consumer complaints in this regard,” Kapoor insists.

The majority of advertisers caught by ASCI are D2C brands. Education (26%), Healthcare (15%) and personal care (12%) categories are the top violators. Content violation and Influencers' non-disclosure violations have gone up two-fold over the last four years in the beauty and personal care segment alone, ASCI has found.

Resources

Does the ASCI have enough resources to do a fair job considering its workload and the challenges of the digital advertising ecosystem?

“Even if you have a full army with you, it is difficult to track digital ads. We use filters to prioritize our work. For instance, from April to June, we divert our resources to track education ads and December-January we keep a close tab on skincare and moisturizer ads. This allows us to make a shortlist and then we go through ad by ad. Some violations may be nuanced that require human intervention. Those are taken up by our expert panel,” Kapoor explains.

In two years, the number of ad violations has shot up by 80 percent. We are able to handle the work with the same physical infrastructure and resources. We are smart and quick about what we are tracking, she tells with pride.

Advice to advertisers

Every year, a lot of advertisements land in political controversies, are trolled by social media armies and are sometimes retracted by brands. What advice would she like to give the brands to avoid such troubles?

Kapoor says frankly, “Go all out and be creative as long as you are complying with the ASCI code. We would like to see successful advertising. It's a very vibrant field and has been part of our life and culture. Great advertising must be great for consumers and all stakeholders. We have seen some great advertising that is compliant. We would love for them to be interesting, and entertaining and use more formats. Brands should not take up social issues without understanding nuances.”

Such brands are neither thoughtful nor seek advice from domain experts. Hence, they are caught on the wrong foot. If a brand wishes to steer clear of controversy, it has to be more mature and meaningful. Our report “What India takes offense to' released in 2022 has given enough insight into what triggers people. Obvious pitfalls can surely be avoided, Kapoor advises.

“However, a few controversies can't be predicted as people always have their points of view. That is the cost of doing business. If your work can get trolled in a healthy way, it's fine. It should not become a law and order problem,” Kapoor says.

“We are living in a hypersensitive world. People are becoming more and more sensitive, not only in India but across the world and rightly so. It's a difficult time for the industry to navigate these issues but there is no choice. Brainstorming is the need of the hour”, she opines.

Adequate diversity needed

Adequate diversity in creative advertising is very crucial. It will help advertisers and agencies have a more rounded approach while making campaigns. Besides, brands should back the ad they have put out. Companies can come to us and seek advice about potential violations before making an ad.