National Advertising Division

Privacy isn’t black-and-white, says the FTC’s Chris Mufarrige, promising evidence-driven consumer protection cases under the Trump administration.

Advertising using AI-doctored images could spark legal issues if the images are misleading. Plus: the commerce reckoning.

Let’s clear the air. The Federal Trade Commission does not hate advertising, says Samuel Levine, the agency’s consumer protection chief. But the FTC does have a few suggestions for the ad industry.

Has the Federal Trade Commission been overstepping its bounds? Yes, according to newly appointed Republican FTC Commissioner Melissa Holyoak.

In today’s newsletter: NAD says influencers should label endorsements as ads, even if they invest in the company; Netflix’s password-sharing crackdown was a catalyst for ad-supported audience growth; and G/O Media sells more of its portfolio.

Some business practices on the internet may not be against the law, but they undermine or manipulate consumer choice. Legal advocates have coined a new name for this practice: dark patterns. And dark patterns are next up on the enforcement docket both for the Federal Trade Commission and state-level data privacy laws.

The FTC enforces truth in advertising laws with special attention to ads that claim particular benefits to a person’s health or their bank account. But the FTC can only bring so many cases to trial. Which is where the National Advertising Division comes in.

Although the Federal Trade Commission has historically been a fan of the ad industry governing itself, it’s been making moves to signal that the commission might start to reject self-regulatory practices, at least on the privacy front.