China Targets Online Advertising Practices with New Regulations
China Targets Online Advertising Practices with New Regulations
New regulations on online advertising are targeting a wide-range of practices from email to videos, affecting businesses from e-commerce to social media, as China’s government tries to get a hold of a fast-moving segment of the internet.
The rules, issued Friday by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, are China’s most comprehensive to date, broadly defining online and electronic advertising as including email ads, paid search results, embedded links, images or videos “with the purpose of promoting goods or services.”
The regulations, which take effect in September, lay out guidelines against false or misleading practices and prohibit online ads for prescription medication and tobacco while requiring prior government approval for ads for medical supplies, pesticides, veterinary medicine and other health products.