Online advertisers should not engage in deceptive or misleading trade practices with regard to any aspect of electronic commerce, including advertising, marketing, or in their use of technology.

1. Online advertisers should adhere to the Better Business Bureau’s Code of Advertising. Online advertisers should engage in truthful advertising. They should not make deceptive or misleading representations or omissions of material facts.

   1. Online advertisers should be able to substantiate any express or reasonably implied factual claims made in their advertising or marketing and should possess reasonable substantiation prior to disseminating a claim.

   2. Online advertisers should disclose their advertising or marketing to be such if failure to do so would be misleading.
      • For example, if material information in an advertisement appears misleading because it is difficult to distinguish between editorial content and advertising, the advertising should be labeled as such.
      • Likewise, online advertisers should not disguise advertising as technical or desktop functionality when doing so would mislead customers into clicking on the advertisement thinking that they were actually performing a technical function.

   3. If online advertisers make price comparisons, they should disclose the basis for, or the geographic area that constitutes, the market area. In all cases, online advertisers should either disclose the date when the comparison was made or if they offer ongoing claims, keep the substantiation current. (Click here for explanation and examples)

   4. Online advertisers should cooperate with any bona fide, industry self-regulatory advertising programs where such programs exist to resolve any advertising disputes. (Click here for examples)

2. Online advertisers should use Internet technology to promote the customer’s knowledge of the products or services being offered and should not use technology to mislead customers. (Click here for examples)

   1. Online advertisers should not mislead online customers by creating the false impression of sponsorship, endorsement, popularity, trustworthiness, product quality or business size through the misuse of hyperlinks, "seals", other technology, or another’s intellectual property. (Click here for examples)

   2. Online advertisers may use hyperlinks to add to or supplement information about goods or services but should not misleadingly use hyperlinks or information provided via a hyperlink to:
      • contradict or substantially change the meaning of any material statement or claim,
      • create the false impression of affiliation,
      • create the false impression that the content, merchandise or service of another’s business is their own.
      (Click here for examples)

   3. Online advertisers should only use search terms or mechanisms that fairly reflect the content of their site. (Click here for examples)

   4. Online advertisers should make sure that any third-party "seals" or endorsements that incorporate links to self-regulatory or ethical standard programs are functional so that customers can easily verify membership in the seal program and determine its purpose, scope, and standards. Any online advertiser that participates in any third-party self-regulatory or ethical standard or seal program should do so in conformity with that program’s instructions regarding the display, activation, and uses of the seal or endorsement. If an express or implied claim is made through the use of a seal or text, the online advertiser should provide customers with the opportunity to understand the details behind the program, including the program’s claims, scope and standards. (Click here for explanation and examples)

   5. Online advertisers should not knowingly link to, or accept affinity or royalty payments from, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal sites.

   6. Online advertisers should not deceptively interfere with a customer’s browser, computer, or any appliance the customer uses to access the Internet. (Click here for explanation and examples)