Internet gets advertising kitemark

The Advertising Standards Agency has ventured into the administration of online ads by launching a voluntary kitemark scheme.

The admark initiative will formalise the 1995 extension of the British codes of advertising and sales promotion to the internet, and the ASA hopes it will foster public trust in the content of online ads. Grahame Fowler, head of strategy at the ASA, said: "The advertising industry is concerned with making the internet a credible ad medium, which right now it isn't. "Adverisers have always complied with our codes, but we could see that it wasn't going to continue. The internet as a medium is designed to evade regulation." As admark is self-regulatory, the ASA will not be able to force advertisers to withdraw ads that breach the codes, but it have been given the backing of the UK advertising industry. For more information about the scheme visit http://www.admark.org.uk .