News UK
Digital Advertising Policy
News UK seeks to inform and entertain readers through our various platforms and titles. In doing so News UK will stir debate and tackle hard hitting stories. We understand that there are certain news stories that would not be considered suitable for brands to appear against.
This policy outlines what steps News UK takes to avoid putting brands next to unsuitable content and what we expect from the brands we work with. This policy applies to News UK’s digital products.
Contents
Hate Speech
Ad Fraud
Editorial advertising controls
Passive keyword blocking
Brand safety technology partners
Ad Review and Approval
Editorial Review
Disclosures
Prohibited Content
> Infringing Content
> Deceptive Content
> Hateful or Discriminatory Content
> Inappropriate Content
> Dangerous products or Services
Restricted Content
> Alcohol
> Adult Content
> Gambling & Games
> Financial Products & Services
> Political Advertising
> Healthcare & Pharmaceutical
> HFSS Products
User Data Collection
Take Downs
Hate Speech:
News UK embraces diversity and has a zero tolerance policy on hate speech which applies to our content, comments and advertising. We have policies that address each aspect of the business and the behavior expected of our employees. We have vetting in place for the comments sections of our articles. We will not run advertising promoting hate nor will we accept advertising that discriminates in targeting based on race, religion or sexuality. We apply community guidelines to our users to ensure that our comments sections adhere to the standard we expect.
Comments Community policy:
https://www.thesun.co.uk/community-guidelines/
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/f4024fbe-d989-11e6-9063-500e6740fc32
Ad Fraud:
We work with Integral Ad Science to reduce fraudulent and non-human impressions on ad campaigns that we run. We will not accept advertising that is mis-representative of products or services, we have partnered with The Media Trust to be able to take swift blocking actions against such advertisers. We will not work with partners who seek to defraud advertisers by fraudulent methods such as misrepresented inventory, adstacking or similar practices.
Editorial advertising controls:
In the event of a national tragedy, such as a terrorist attack or natural disaster, the News UK editorial team will, if appropriate, remove all adverts from content directly related to the event. The decision to remove advertising is made by the editor and is made as events unfold. This does not apply to the Homepages of our products which may show some images and headlines from the event.
Passive keyword blocking:
News UK recognises that some topics are not suitable for advertising against and we block all adverts against such content.
Brand safety technology partners:
News UK has partnered with Integral Ad Science (IAS) and ADmantX to apply an intelligent approach to brand safety. Predefined categories including natural disasters, crime, illegal drugs, weapons, military and terrorism are automatically applied to direct and programmatic guaranteed campaigns to reduce the risk of serving next to such content types.
News UK will work with clients to create custom block lists where desired. ADmantX allows a nuanced approach to brand suitability through understanding the sentiment of the page. This approach avoids the blunt approach of a keyword blocking approach and allows clients to serve across a wider array of content.
The partnership between News UK and IAS also allows us to identify and filter out invalid traffic (IVT) from sources such as bots or fraudulent requests. This is applied as part of our default safety settings to all campaigns.
We will not accept advertising that is mis-representative of products or services and we have partnered with The Media Trust to be able to take swift blocking actions against such advertisers. We will not work with partners who seek to defraud advertisers by fraudulent methods such as misrepresented inventory, adstacking or similar practices.
Brand Safety Policy, 2022 - More information
Ad Review and Approval:
Ads will be passed through a Creative QA process subject for approval. Creatives are reviewed within 24 hours, although in some cases it may take longer. The creative review process consists of reviewing the advert's images, text, file weight size, targeting and positioning, in addition to the content on the advert's landing page. The advert may not be approved if the landing page content isn't fully functional, doesn't match the product/service promoted in your advert or doesn't fully comply with our Advertising Policies. Cookie duration and use is also reviewed at this time. The maximum cookie duration we accept is 12 months. News UK reserves the right to reject or remove any advert.
All adverts must be free of any viruses, adware or malware. No advert will cause an adverse effect on the operation of the website.
News UK supports the 'Coalition for Better Ads' initiative to create a better user experience on desktop, tablet and mobile web. As such, all ad formats and creative specifications fall within and must adhere to the Better Ads Standards as defined here.
News UK may block infringing ads from appearing on its platforms and suspend or terminate your account(s) if your ads breach our Advertising Policy or applicable laws.
Editorial Review:
Advertisements and editorial content must be clearly distinguishable. News UK will only publish branded content and sponsored supplements if clearly indicated as an ad.
Editorial decisions will not be influenced by current or potential sponsors and advertisers, and will not be influenced by marketing decisions. Advertisers and sponsors have no control or influence over the results of searches a user may conduct on the website by keyword or search topic.
Editorial can request the removal of an advert if it is felt that it contravenes the values or tone of News UK’s titles.
Disclosures:
All required disclosures and mandatory warnings in ads must be clear and conspicuous. Advertiser(s) must be accurately and clearly identified in the ad.
Prohibited Content:
Our Advertising Policy prohibits some content that we consider to be harmful to or inappropriate for our readers and the brands we work with, which we describe in further detail below.
The following types of advertisements are prohibited:
● Ads that encourage illegal activity, or any illegal conduct, product or enterprise. ● Ads that promote religious views or services.
● Ads that solicit the user’s participation in lawsuits or ads that ask users to report on their medical history for purposes of potential compensation.
● Ads that depict drug use or excessive drinking.
● Ads that encourage violence or depict hyper-realistic violence.
● Ads that encourage dangerous behaviours.
● Ads that suggest violating laws or regulations.
● Ads that direct users to phishing links, malware or similarly harmful codes or sites. ● Ads that promote cigarettes, cigars or other tobacco.
● Ads that promote firearms, weapons or ammunition.
● Illegal wildlife trade, and products and services derived from endangered or threatened species.
● Ads that encourage dishonest behaviour.
● Ads that address or are intended to appeal specifically to children.
● App installs from sources other than the official app store for the user’s device.
Infringing Content
Ads must not infringe the intellectual property, privacy, publicity or other legal rights of any person or entity. For that reason, advertisers must have in place all necessary rights, licences and permissions for all elements of their ads. Ads must not feature the name, likeness (including lookalikes), voice (including sound-alikes) or other identifying features of an individual without the individual’s consent.
The following is prohibited:
● Ads for products or services principally used to infringe the intellectual property rights of others, such as those designed to bypass copyright protection (for example, software or cable signal descramblers).
● Ads for products or services principally dedicated to selling counterfeit products, such as imitations of designer or officially-licensed products.
Deceptive Content
● Ads that are deceptive, false or misleading, including deceptive claims, offers or business practices.
● Ads that deceive users into providing personal information without their knowledge, under false pretences or that otherwise misuse personal information.
● Bait-and-switch techniques or other deceiving calls to action.
● Fake and fraudulent news
● Ads that enable dishonest behaviour.
Hateful or Discriminatory Content
● Ads that demean, degrade, discriminate or show hate toward a particular race, ethnicity, culture, country, belief, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, disability or condition, or toward any member of a protected class.
● Ads that promote harassment or bullying.
● Extremist views.
Inappropriate Content
● Ads that depict nudity (with the exception of breastfeeding in certain circumstances), or sexual content.
● Ads that may be considered culturally inappropriate in the selected location.
● Profanity or obscene gestures (with the exception of censored profanity).
● Ads that promotes animal cruelty or gratuitous violence towards animals, as well as promoting animal cruelty for entertainment purposes, such as cockfighting or dog fighting.
● Ads that use violent language, gruesome or disgusting imagery, or graphic images or accounts of physical trauma.
● Ads intended to shock the user.
● Ads that use sensitive events that may be deemed as capitalising on or lacking reasonable sensitivity towards a natural disaster, conflict, death or other tragic event.
Dangerous products or Services
News UK does not allow the promotion of some products or services that cause damage, harm or injury to health. Examples of products and services that we consider to be dangerous include;
● Explosives
● Guns, gun parts & related products
● Other weapons
● Recreational drugs
Restricted Content
Certain advertising content is subject to stricter advertising and regulatory rules or can be otherwise sensitive. We may allow the promotion of the content below, but subject to certain restrictions.
Alcohol
News UK abides by local alcohol laws and industry regulations, so we don’t allow certain kinds of alcohol-related advertising, both for alcohol and drinks that resemble alcohol.
When promoting adverts that reference to alcohol, efforts must be made to ensure that you target your ads appropriately, including targeting them to people aged 18 years or older in accordance with local law.
We consider the following to be irresponsible in alcohol-related advertising, and any ads containing this content will be disapproved.
● Targeting individuals below the legal drinking age.
● Implying that drinking alcohol can improve social, sexual, professional, intellectual or athletic standing.
● Implying that drinking alcohol provides health or therapeutic benefits.
● Portraying excessive drinking favourably or featuring binge or competition drinking.
● Showing alcohol consumption in conjunction with the operation of a vehicle of any kind, the operation of machinery or the performance of any task requiring alertness or dexterity.
Warning labels, such as “please drink responsibly” or its local variation (if applicable) must be prominently displayed in the ad copy.
Adult Content
Adverts should respect user preferences and comply with legal regulations. News UK doesn’t allow adult content that are deemed as ‘inappropriate’ to our audience or titles. Examples include;
● Sexually explicit content
● Child sexual abuse imagery
● Mail-Order Brides
● Adult themes in family content
Gambling & Games
News UK supports responsible gambling advertising and abides by local gambling laws and industry regulations. Gambling ads must target approved countries, have a landing page that displays information about responsible gambling and targeting your adverts to people aged 18 years or older in all permitted countries.
Warning labels such as “When the FUN Stops, STOP” or its local variation (if applicable) must be prominently displayed and terms and conditions should also be included on all ad copy.
Financial Products & Services
Adverts for financial products and services must clearly and prominently disclose all applicable material terms and conditions to consumers.
Adverts for loans must disclose APR, repayment period, fees and costs, penalties and the contact information of the lending institution.
Adverts for products intended for a limited audience should only be targeted at that audience. For example,a credit card offer must be limited to individuals over the age of 18.
Adverts for the following are not permitted:
● Get-rich-quick or pyramid schemes, or other deceptive financial offers. ● Adverts that promote particular securities or that provide or allege to provide insider tips.
● Payday loans or predatory lending.
● Cryptocurrency including: Wallets, Trading Platforms and Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) unless prior approval is obtained.
Political Advertising
News UK accepts political advertising with approval from Editorial and commercial teams. Any political advertising must align with the values of our brands. All political advertising must comply with local legal requirements, including campaign and election laws and mandated election 'silence periods', for any geographic areas that they target. Political content includes ads for political organisations, political parties, political issue advocacy or fundraising and individual candidates and politicians.
Healthcare & Pharmaceutical
Advertising for pharmaceutical and healthcare products and services must only promote those products or services that have been approved by the local regulatory authorities in each of the countries targeted.
Adverts for health and dietary supplements must not:
● Promote products that may present risks for consumers.
● Promote weight-loss supplements.
● Contain exaggerated or unrealistic claims.
● Include “before-and-after” pictures.
● Promote plastic surgery.
HFSS Products
The under-16 element of the audience for News UK's content is generally below 25% and so most advertising restrictions applicable to food or soft drink products that are assessed as High in Fat, Salt or Sugar (HFSS) in accordance with the Department of Health and Social Care's nutrient profiling model will not apply. However where HFSS product ads feature licensed characters or celebrities popular with children, their content must very clearly and unequivocally target older children (12+) or adults.
User Data Collection
Ads may not collect sensitive information including about racial or ethnic origin, political opinion, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade-union membership, health or sex life without our prior permission and obtaining consent from our readers.
The advertiser’s privacy policy must be made available when any personal information is collected.
Personal information must be collected and processed securely. Adverts must not state or imply knowledge of personal data, sensitive information, online activity or the precise whereabouts of a user.
Take Downs
If an advert is deemed to be serving in an unsafe brand environment or is regarded as unsuitable to run on our platforms please report this to our Digital Ad Operations team (digitaladoperations-sm@news.co.uk) and Revenue Operations team (revenue-operations-sm@news.co.uk). We will require the URL of the page the ad is appearing on, the URL that the advert clicks through to, details on why it is deemed unsafe and a supporting screengrab.