The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) on Wednesday ruled against two vaping businesses whose products appeared in paid Google advertisements without their direct involvement.
UK Electronic Cigarette Ltd (operating as UKVAPINGSTORE) and Golden Vape UK Ltd were both subject to ASA investigations after their nicotine vape products appeared in sponsored Google ads created by third-party aggregator websites – Falcongalaxy.com and Shoparade.uk respectively.
The ASA investigation revealed that both companies had simply listed their products on eBay, unaware that this would lead to promotional advertising elsewhere online. According to the ASA, eBay's user agreement permits third parties to access seller listings and create advertisements that appear on Google and other platforms, with no option for sellers to opt out.
The ASA was particularly clear that despite Golden Vape's protestation that they “had never run, approved or been involved in any advertising through Google,” they remained responsible as the marketer under the CAP Code. The ruling establishes that retailers bear the ultimate responsibility for ensuring their products aren't promoted in non-permitted media, regardless of how the advertising originated.
In the case of UKVAPINGSTORE, the company failed to respond to the ASA's inquiries altogether, compounding the violation with a breach of CAP Code rule 1.7 regarding unreasonable delay.
The ASA's rulings enforce CAP Code rule 22.12, which reflects the legislative ban in the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 (TRPR). This prohibits marketing communications that directly or indirectly promote unlicensed, nicotine-containing e-cigarettes in online media and other electronic formats.
The only exceptions are for:
- Media targeted exclusively to the trade
- Factual claims about products on marketers' own websites
- Certain non-paid-for spaces online under the marketer's control
In both rulings, the ASA ordered that the ad must not appear again in the form investigated. The authority instructed both UK Electronic Cigarette Ltd and Golden Vape UK Ltd, along with the respective aggregator sites, “to ensure that marketing communications with the direct or indirect effect of promoting nicotine-containing e-cigarettes and their components that were not licensed medicines should not appear in paid-for Google ads or in other non-permitted media.”
The ASA has also referred both cases to the Committee of Advertising Practice's compliance team for further action, signaling a continued focus on this area.
