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Are Advertising Publishers Responsible for the Ads?

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Brian888

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Florida

I'm wondering, is it the webmasters responsibility to do the proper investigating before selling ads to advertisers?

What if an ad you sell turns out to be selling something that is a scam of some sorts? Is the webmaster of the site selling ad space responsible legally in any way, either criminally or civilly? For instance what if you sell ad space to an investment company that then scams people.

Are there anything one can say on their site to take this responsibility away?

Thanks in advance for the help
 


What is the name of your state? Florida

I'm wondering, is it the webmasters responsibility to do the proper investigating before selling ads to advertisers?

What if an ad you sell turns out to be selling something that is a scam of some sorts? Is the webmaster of the site selling ad space responsible legally in any way, either criminally or civilly? For instance what if you sell ad space to an investment company that then scams people.

Are there anything one can say on their site to take this responsibility away?

Thanks in advance for the help
The US Government thinks you can be held liable. Google paid a $500 million fine:

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/aug/25/business/la-fi-google-settlement-20110825
 

sandyclaus

Senior Member
What is the name of your state? Florida

I'm wondering, is it the webmasters responsibility to do the proper investigating before selling ads to advertisers?

What if an ad you sell turns out to be selling something that is a scam of some sorts? Is the webmaster of the site selling ad space responsible legally in any way, either criminally or civilly? For instance what if you sell ad space to an investment company that then scams people.

Are there anything one can say on their site to take this responsibility away?

Thanks in advance for the help
The majority of the time, the webmasters are just selling space. The site sells the space, not the product. The sponsor is responsible for their OWN content.

There is usually some kind of disclaimer that states that the site is not responsible nor upholds the legitimacy of the product or services being sold, and that the opinions expressed are those of only the sponsor.
 

Jimhassel

Junior Member
Publishers should manage the ads that are displayed using the Ad Review Center which allows the filtering of ads by text or image and allows the blocking of individual ad groups and advertisers. The Google AdSense claims that it carries out work to minimize insensitive matches.
 

Brian888

Junior Member
I understand this, however, What defines an ad that should not be permitted? For example I run an investment site that deals with overseas investments in property, foreign exchange, etc. These companies are not registered in the US for the most part. If any of them are scams, could I be held criminally or civilly responsible since I allow those companies to purchases ads on my site? I do have a disclaimer on my site which states that any ad may be a scam and that we do not endorse any company that advertises with us.

Am I ok from a legal standpoint?
 

quincy

Senior Member
Generally publishers are not liable to an individual consumer for advertising which results in a financial loss or damage to that consumer, however, third parties such as yourself can be held liable for disseminating certain advertisements if they helped to create the advertisement or knew or should have known that the claims made in an advertisement were false, deceptive or fraudulent.

Disclaimers, which are important to have, need to be prominently displayed and written in language that is clear enough for the average consumer to understand. A disclaimer no matter how clearly written, however, will not prevent a lawsuit nor will a disclaimer protect you from losing a lawsuit. The most a disclaimer can do is mitigate any damages awarded in a lawsuit, should you be found liable for the material you publish.

Therefore, it can be important for you to monitor the advertising on your site and avoid those ads that may mislead your readers.

There is a great source of information available to you through the Federal Trade Commission website. The FTC has not only guidelines for those who advertise and market their products and services on the internet, they also have a guide (designed for the media) on screening advertising.

See http://business.ftc.gov and, in particular, http://business.ftc.gov/documents/bus28-advertising-and-marketing-internet-rules-road and http://business.ftc.gov/documents/bus36-screening-advertisements-guide-media (a pdf file).

I suggest you read through these publications for the advice and direction they offer.

Traditional news publications and broadcast networks have developed over the years advertising standards and guidelines that they follow when it comes to the advertising they will accept and the advertising they will reject for publication. While advertising revenue is vital to the health of most news organizations, reader loyalty and confidence is vital as well. There is also a responsibility of publishers to ensure that what they publish is honest and will not cause harm.

It would be wise for you to have your investment site, and your disclaimer, and the terms and conditions of using your site, reviewed by an attorney in your area. The attorney can let you know if there are any areas of legal concern that should be addressed.

Good luck with your investment site.
 

Brian888

Junior Member
Thanks a lot for your reply. These are all Civil issues, not criminal correct? So basically someone could try and sue me for losses, but criminally I won't face any penalties right?
 

quincy

Senior Member
Well, it depends on the type of advertising. You could potentially face both criminal and civil actions over your advertising.

Whether you will be held liable for the content of an ad that you publish, if you are served with a civil complaint or if you face criminal prosecution, will depend primarily on if you knew in advance, or you should have known, that the ad in some way violated a law.

Taking from the Google case mentioned already, where Google faced prosecution over the publication of drug ads, Deputy Attorney General James Cole said, "The Department of Justice will continue to hold accountable companies who in their bids for profits violate federal laws and put at risk the health and safety of American consumers."

As I said earlier, it can be important to choose your advertisers carefully and avoid those whose advertised products or services you know can, or suspect could, harm a consumer.

A review by an attorney of your business plans and website plans and advertising plans can perhaps help relieve any anxiety you may feel over potential lawsuits arising from your business. I advise this review.

Good luck.
 

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