The Advertising Board imposed fines of 92.4 million lira last year on dark commercial designs and misleading ads such as discounted sales that deceive consumers. The Ministry of Commerce published the Advertising Board Report for 2024, covering the supervision of advertisements, consumer rights, deceptive commercial practices, and sectoral regulations. The Board focused on advertisements that mislead or are prohibited, with a special emphasis on dark commercial designs, defined as practices mostly found in internet interfaces that mislead, deceive, or manipulate consumers by directing them towards choices not in their interest. With the rise of digital markets, these designs came under the Board’s radar, as it was identified that such schemes had the potential to disrupt consumers’ economic behavior.

FORBIDDEN FORTUNE TELLER AND MEDIUM ADVERTISEMENTS

Fortune teller, psychic, astrologer, along with illegal gambling and betting ads continue to be among the prohibited promotions. The majority of complaints addressed in the filed cases heard by the Advertising Board pertained to dark commercial designs, discounted sales, and services with banned ads falling under the category of “other goods and services.” Within this sector, 533 cases were found to be in violation, resulting in the cessation of 345 ads and the imposition of administrative fines and stoppage penalties on 188 cases. Consequently, a total of 92.4 million lira in fines were imposed on non-compliant ads within the “other goods and services” sector. BEAUTY SALONS UNDER SCRUTINY

Following the “other goods and services” category, health sector advertisements with 423 cases were closely monitored by the Board. Additionally, beauty salon ads were scrutinized last year, with 87 files reviewed within this scope. For the health sector, a cessation decision was made for 236 ads found to be in violation of regulations, while administrative fines and cessation penalties were deemed appropriate for 187 of them. The Advertising Board decided on an administrative fine of 87.8 million lira for non-compliant health sector advertisements last year. 38 MILLION LIRA FINE FOR THE FOOD SECTOR

Advertisements directed towards the food sector were one of the focal points of the Board in 2024, being one of the sectors with high application volumes. In this sector, a total of 284 cases were reviewed during this period, with 100 of them related to “food supplements” ads. Out of these, 253 were deemed non-compliant, while 31 cases were found to be in order. Ceasing 92 ads and imposing penalties on 161 ads found to be in violation, the Board imposed fines totaling 38.2 million lira on non-compliant food advertisements. Among other sectors receiving administrative fines were cosmetics and cleaning products with 17.5 million lira, durable goods and technology with 12.7 million lira, communication with 9.2 million lira, financial services with 5.5 million lira, tobacco and alcohol with 4 million lira, and tourism with 2.8 million lira. During this period, 7.1 million lira in fines were also issued for covert advertisements. Additionally, a fine of 6 million lira was imposed on illegal betting and gambling ads. 84% OF ADS ON INSTAGRAM

As digitalization progresses, the Advertising Board also scrutinized advertisements on another intensifying platform, social media. Out of 1917 cases evaluated regarding digital channels, 707 cases were related to advertisements on social media. Approximately 84% of these ads were found on Instagram, with a total of 592 ads coming under the Board’s review on this platform. Instagram led social media advertisements with 48 ads, followed by Facebook with 46 ads, Youtube with 12 ads, X with 6 ads, TikTok with 6 ads, and LinkedIn with 3 ads.