Committee publication · Correspondence · 2 September 2025
Letter from Sir Chris Bryant MP, Minister for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism, regarding an Update on the Online Advertising Taskforce, 25 July 2025
From: Culture, Media and Sport Committee
Inquiry: The work of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Summary
Sir Chris Bryant updates the Culture, Media and Sport Committee on the Online Advertising Taskforce, established in 2023 to protect consumers while enabling industry growth. The letter describes progress across six industry-led working groups addressing illegal advertising, child protection, age assurance, influencer standards, AI implications, and information-sharing on malvertising. The Taskforce has been extended to at least December 2025.
Key findings
- Online advertising accounts for £4 in every £5 of total advertising budgets (2024), with the sector contributing £40 billion in adspend and £109 billion in indirect GVA to the UK economy.
- A Global Signal Exchange (GSE) pilot is under development to enable real-time sharing of fraud signals between trusted partners in the advertising supply chain, aligned with the Government's March 2025 Fraud Strategy.
- The new Gold Standard specification (launched January 2025) now includes retail media, CTV, and sustainability criteria; 66 companies engaged with a target of 100 certifications by end-October 2025.
- The fourth edition of the Influencer Marketing Code of Conduct launched November 2024, with approximately 35% market coverage and a target of 50% by end-2025; additions include child protection, AI ethics, and accessibility.
- A new AI-focused working group (started 2025) will develop an overarching AI code of conduct—described as a global first—and examine labelling requirements for AI-generated advertising.
Tone
SupportiveTopics
Key actors
Sir Chris Bryant MP, Dame Caroline Dinenage MP, Advertising Association, Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB UK), Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), Incorporated Society of British Advertisers (ISBA), Influencer Marketing Trade Body (IMTB), DNS Research Federation
Notable line
“The Taskforce and its six industry-led working groups are determined to reduce advertising harms, and continue to deliver world-leading measures to achieve this …”
Key Quotes
“Advertising is a key creative industry, providing over £40 billion in adspend for 2024, and £109 billion in indirect GVA across the UK economy more broadly.”
“As £4 in every £5 of advertising budgets is now spent online, this element will only increase in prominence.”
“It brings together government and industry to work towards improving transparency, accountability and trust in the online advertising supply chain.”
“The GSE is effectively a marketplace for trusted stakeholders to share fraud related signals intelligence and is already being used by the financial, online dating and retail sectors to address volume cybercrime.”
“The code sets out a range of rules for advertisers on topics such as misleading advertising, harm and offence, and advertising to children, with the intention of ensuring that advertising is legal, decent, honest and truthful.”
“Originally launched in 2021 as a world first, the Code has gone through subsequent iterations to increase its effectiveness and drive higher standards for brands, influencers and talent agencies …”
“The group has started work to review existing industry principles for use of AI and plans to develop an overarching code of conduct that can be used across the advertising sector - this will be a global first.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗