FTC Plans New Unit to Monitor Online Advertising

The Federal Trade Commission on Friday is expected to launch a new subdivision created to monitor online advertising practices, according to published reports.

The Internet Advertising Unit will be a subdivision under the Division of Advertising Practices, itself a unit of the Bureau of Consumer Protection, according to a Newsbytes report.

An FTC spokesman was quoted as saying the new unit will be formally unveiled at a day-long Internet advertising workshop the FTC will hold at its headquarters in Washington, D.C. Many large advertisers and industry trade groups are expected to have representatives in attendance.

Scheduled for the conference is a session on evaluating whether certain disclosures that the FTC requires of advertisers are displayed “clearly and conspicuously” in online ads. The conference also will address whether those disclosures should be on the same screen that they modify, or whether consumers should not be required to scroll down to view the disclosures, Newsbytes said.

Other disclosure methods to be discussed include hyperlinks, frames, pop-up boxes and interstitial ads. Newsbytes.com is a division of Post-Newsweek Business Information, Inc.