Tech ad complaints fall

Still number two in the charts though

By Tim Richardson • Get more from this author

Posted in Bootnotes, 26th April 2005 10:29 GMT

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The number of complaints about dodgy adverts generated by the UK's computer and telecoms industry fell last year, according to official figures released today by the advertising watchdog.

Complaints about misleading ads from the tech sector fell to 1,322 in 2004 from 1,579 the year before. Despite this, the UK's tech sector is still one of the biggest industry offenders, second only to the "leisure" market.

The top four most complained about sectors – leisure, computers and telecoms, health and beauty, and holidays and travel - accounted for more than half of all complaints received by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) last year.

And while ads featured in the national press received the most complaints, Internet advertising is clawing itself up the "bad boy" league table and is now the fourth most complained about advertising media ahead of magazines.

Incidentally, the latest figures from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) show that the value of internet ad spending rose 60 per cent last year to £650m - making it more popular than radio. ®