• Are you promoting a specific phone model in exchange for a discount for its manufacturer’s products? Are you advertising your books or testing cosmetics received in a PR package? Are you an influencer?

• Do you know how to correctly tag this type of content?

• Learn more in the Recommendations of the President of UOKiK.

Recommendations of the President of UOKiK on the tagging, by influencers, of advertising content on social media is a document that has long been awaited not only by influencers, but also by advertisers, PR agencies and consumers. The recommendations present a number of practical examples and graphical proposals and have been drawn up to assist online creators to correctly tag their commercial content.

- We have made a distinction between various types of commercial cooperation. Some of the examples include self-promotion, i.e. advertising one’s own brand, as well as gifts, commonly known as PR packages - explains Tomasz Chróstny, President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection.

- The document describes not only the key definitions, applicable legal regulations and consequences that may be suffered in connection with surreptitious advertising, but also provides specific examples of advertising tags that should be used on social media (Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube and others). It also offers practical guidelines that need to be followed in connection with all forms of ads – adds the President of UOKiK.

The Recommendations provide for various types of commercial cooperation that differ, for instance, due to the manner in which the contract has been concluded, the form of remuneration, the impact that the advertiser has on the materials published and the duration of cooperation. Regardless of how the influencer is rewarded for cooperation (monetary payment, discounts offered or products received) and irrespective of whether the contract has been concluded in writing, on the phone or via a messaging app - all materials containing a commercial message for which in-kind benefits have been received should be clearly tagged as an ADVERTISEMENT and should name the promoted brand. The catalog of tags that may be used is broad and it makes no difference, from the user’s point of view, whether the word “Reklama” (Advertisement) will be preceded by a hashtag or placed in square brackets. The recommended terms include, inter alia, the following:

• #reklama (#advertisement) or [REKLAMA] ([ADVERTISEMENT]),
• #materiałreklamowy (#advertisingmaterial) or [MATERIAŁ REKLAMOWY] ([ADVERTISING MATERIAL]),
• #współpracareklamowa (#commercialcooperation) lub [WSPÓŁPRACA REKLAMOWA] ([COMMERCIAL COOPERATION]),
• Płatna współpraca z marką XYZ (Paid cooperation with XYZ brand),
• Reklama marki XYZ (Advertisement of XYZ brand).

Self-promotion and PR packages

Self-promotion, i.e. activities undertaken to advertise one’s own brand, has been addressed in the Recommendations separately. If you are an author, dietary services provider or cosmetics manufacturer - when promoting those activities on your channel, you should tag the content as AUTOPROMOCJA (SELF-PROMOTION). For other suggested terms, please see the Recommendations. Be reminded that self-promotion does not involve a situation where you advertise a product of another brand, even if you have used your image or logo in the process. In such a case, we will be dealing with MATERIAŁ REKLAMOWY (ADVERTISING MATERIAL).

When going through the Recommendations, please pay special attention to gifts and the examples of PR packages. The type of the tag to be used depends, to a considerable extent, on whether you received the low-value gift, from a given brand, for the first time, as other rules will apply if the gift you intend to present in social media is another in a series of similar presents received from the same brand. When an influencer promotes the first PR package, the publication needs to be tagged as PREZENT (GIFT). For other suggested terms used in this particular scenario, see the Recommendations. If the same brand provides the influencer with more products – the related publications must be tagged as MATERIAŁ REKLAMOWY (ADVERTISING MATERIAL).

Things to remember when tagging advertisements

We recommend a two-level tagging process that involves tags placed by the content author (e.g. in the description, in an image or a video, in the narration) and those placed using the platform’s built-in functionality. It is also crucial to inform the recipients about the brand that is being advertised.

The influencer should tag advertising materials in a clear, unambiguous manner that is understandable for all recipients. The tagging must be visible both to regular followers and to those who visit a given channel for the very first time. Font size, background colors - all that impacts the manner in which the message is received. It is important that consumers are made aware of the commercial nature of content at an early stage of the interaction, both on mobile and stationary devices. A list of four principles may be useful in determining whether specific content has been tagged correctly. Start with two-level tagging - use the platform’s built-in functionality and tag the material on your own. Make sure that the content is identified as being of commercial nature. Then, specify the brand you are advertising. Finally, make sure that the tag is clear and understandable for the recipients.

Not sure if and how to tag your content? Apply the golden rule.

#OznaczamReklamy (#ItagAds) - filter for IG and FB users

As a supplement to the Recommendations, we have made available, free of charge, a special tool that may be relied upon to tag advertisements, self-promoting materials or gifts in Instagram or Facebook. The tool has the form of an AR filter and will be available soon. It may be found using the #OznaczamReklamy (#ItagAds) hashtag.

Co-regulation - Cooperation between UOKiK, the industry and the academic community

Publication of the Recommendations of the President of UOKiK concerned with tagging content on social media was preceded by several months of consultations with representatives of the influencer marketing industry: Związek Pracodawców Branży Internetowej IAB Polska (Internet Employers’ Association IAB Poland), Stowaryzszenie Komunikacji Marketingwej SAR (Marketing Communications Association SAR) and the Advertising Council. - As an organization representing the industry, we always promote self-regulation, as we know from experience that such a form of structuring the market works best. Such an approach is particularly important in a highly dynamic environment of advertising and influencer marketing industries. We are glad that the voice of the market - represented by the IAB Poland Influencer Marketing Working Group - has not only been heard, but has also actually impacted the shape of the Recommendations that transparently address the actual needs of both the market and UOKiK. The next step should consist in a proper evaluation of the manner in which the Recommendations are applied by the industry and the regulator - says Włodzimierz Schmidt, CEO, IAB Poland.

Representatives of the academic community from Warsaw University’s Journalism, Information and Bibliology Department, as well as from the Press Systems and Press Law Laboratory operating at the Political Sciences and Journalist Department of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań also participated in the work on the Recommendations. They contributed to identifying some special product categories, e.g. diet supplements, or ones that cannot be advertised, e.g. alcohol. The discussions on tagging gifts, invitations or affiliation links have also been attended by content creators themselves who took part in the first round of consultations organized by UOKiK on Instagram @uokikgovpl.

- A few months ago, improper tagging of social media content was a commonplace phenomenon. That is why we recognize the efforts of those market players who began to mark their content in a correct manner, following our first interventions. The Recommendations are intended to support the market in developing high quality best practices in this specific area. They by no means mark the end of our initiatives related to online marketing. We continue to monitor and verify the manner in which content creators, advertising agencies and advertisers themselves adjust their practices to long-existing legal regulations and to our recommendations alike. We have also created a special website summarizing all our initiatives in this specific area - sums up Tomasz Chróstny, President of UOKiK.

Activities of the President of UOKiK  

Each month, we receive approximately 300 reports concerning potential violations and misleading advertisement tags. Information about cases in which no such tags are used on social media is obtained as well. Numerous investigations concerning scam and surreptitious advertising are ongoing. The first fines for failing to cooperate with UOKiK have already been imposed on 6 influencers – inter alia for failing to provide the Office with applicable explanations. In July, the President of UOKiK pressed the first charges concerned with improper use of advertisement tags on social media. Those charges have been pressed against 3 influencers and one advertiser. Please be reminded that influencers, advertising agencies and advertisers are the parties who are responsible for correct tagging of all advertising content. A penalty equaling up to 10% of annual turnover may be imposed for failing to properly tag commercial content.

Have you identified scam or a non-labeled ad on an influencer’s account? Notify us by e-mail: [SCODE]c2NhbUB1b2tpay5nb3YucGw=[ECODE].

Additional information for the media:

UOKiK Press Office
pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warszawa, Poland
Phone: 22 55 60 246
Email: [SCODE]Yml1cm9wcmFzb3dlQHVva2lrLmdvdi5wbA==[ECODE]
Twitter: @UOKiKgovPL
You can also follow us on Instagram: @uokikgovpl