Advertising Board rains down fines on deceptive advertisements

The Ministry of Trade has shared details with the public regarding the meeting held by the Advertising Board on May 15. According to the statement, 56 out of 65 files examined during the meeting were found to be in violation of advertising regulations. Suspension orders were issued for these files, and a total of 10 million 495 thousand 800 liras in administrative fines were imposed. Additionally, to prevent consumer grievances, it was decided to implement access blocking measures for 5 files.

The Ministry's statement included not only the figures for May but also the general picture for the first 5 months of the year. Accordingly, the Board evaluated a total of 736 files in the first five months of 2025. Following the detection of deceptive advertising or unfair commercial practices in 661 files, suspension orders were issued, and a total of 125 million 281 thousand 151 liras in administrative fines were imposed.

One of the focal points of the May meeting was certain digital manipulations encountered in online shopping. The Board examined internet interfaces designed in a way that could influence consumers' rational decision-making processes. The statement included the following remarks:

"One of the main agenda items of the Board's May meeting consisted of promotions aimed at manipulating store follower counts, product favoriting/adding to cart, asking questions, and reviews on e-commerce platforms, as well as consumer comments regarding businesses on map applications, and download counts and reviews on application stores, thereby highlighting companies, applications, or goods and services that consumers would be unlikely to encounter in the normal course of business, and publishing reviews contrary to real experiences."

The statement noted that administrative fines of approximately 3.5 million liras were imposed on 6 companies that directed consumer purchasing tendencies through such manipulative promotions, the relevant advertisements were suspended, and access to the websites of these companies was blocked.

Another important issue evaluated by the Board was subscription offers presented to users in a misleading manner on video-sharing platforms. Practices such as having one of the subscription packages pre-selected on a video site and requiring credit card or bank card information to benefit from the "try for '0' liras for 1 month" option were brought to the agenda. Additionally, interface designs that mislead consumers with a "2 months free" option in mobile applications were also included in the scope of the audit.

In the evaluation conducted within this scope, the following statements were made:

"As a result of the investigation, the aforementioned interface designs that lead consumers to engage in transactions they would not otherwise be a party to, and the recording of consumers' payment information despite subscription packages being presented as a 'free trial,' were evaluated as dark patterns, and it was decided to suspend the commercial practices in question and impose administrative fines on the company."

News Source: AA