The Federal Trade Commission’s proposed regulations aimed at curbing fake reviews could violate the First Amendment by chilling legitimate commercial speech, advertisers told the agency Friday. Instead of issuing regulations, the FTC should continue to issue guidance and case-by-case prosecutions against companies that attempt to dupe consumers with fake reviews, the Association of National Advertisers argues.
The current programmatic media ecosystem is “rife with waste” to the tune of $13 billion and maybe as much $20 billion according to a new study by the Association of National Advertisers. The organization issued what it called a “first look” Monday of a more in-depth study that will be issued later this year. And the report lays much of the blame for inefficiencies in the programmatic arena on the advertisers that use it, saying that they too often put cost ahead of value and more generally fail to exercise proper stewardship over investments in the space.