Rules and ethics
Part of Social listening rules and ethics: keeping checks in their proper lanes
Before you put social listening evidence in an advert, run these checks
Check advertising uses of social listening evidence in England, including substantiation, comparisons, reviews, quotations, targeting and disclosure.
Social listening can suggest a question for advertising research; it does not, by itself, substantiate an advert. Before an England-facing campaign uses a detected theme, quotation, review or comparison, complete this claim-specific checklist. The regulatory sources have UK reach, while any source-platform licence may operate globally.
What to take away
- Social listening can suggest a research question but does not by itself substantiate an advert.
- Objective claims need documentary evidence held before the advert appears, proving the exact wording.
- Comparisons must be verifiable, with defined products, feature, procedure, time window and exclusions.
- Separate spontaneous opinion, invited feedback, gifted products, paid creator work and brand-owned content.
- A clean checklist reduces risk but cannot promise a campaign is lawful, non-misleading or effective.
Define exactly what will appear
- Write the proposed words, image, audience, placement and landing-page context.
- Mark each statement as subjective opinion, objective claim, comparison, testimonial, endorsement or targeting input.
- Preserve the listening query, permitted sources, period, returned population, exclusions and analyst decisions.
A phrase such as "most talked about" needs a universe, unit, period and reproducible comparison. Do not turn a count from accessible posts into a claim about all people or customers in England.
Hold evidence before publication
CAP Executive's substantiation guidance, published in March 2026, says documentary evidence for objective claims should be held before the advert appears. Ask whether the evidence proves the exact wording, for the advertised product and material audience, at the date of use. A cluster of comments may reveal language but still fail that test.
Keep the underlying evidence file, methodology, approver and expiry trigger. Stop if a claim relies only on automated sentiment, an inaccessible dashboard image or examples selected after seeing the result.
Make comparisons checkable
For an identifiable competitor comparison, define the products, feature, measurement procedure, time window and exclusions. CAP Executive's July 2026 advice says comparisons must be verifiable and explains that material information should let the audience understand and check the comparison.
Link the advert to a stable explanation where appropriate. Re-run the comparison if products, data access or source coverage changes. Do not call one brand preferred merely because its name appeared more often in a bounded query.
Preserve review and endorsement context
Separate spontaneous opinion, invited feedback, gifted products, paid creator work and brand-owned content. The CMA's reviews and social media endorsements collection reflects the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act regime. Its business guidance addresses fake reviews and concealed incentives.
If a creator has a commercial relationship, follow the ASA's current influencer-marketing disclosure resources. Do not strip a label when quoting or summarising the material. An aggregate built from undisclosed incentives may be misleading even if the arithmetic is correct.
Clear quotation and imagery
Identify who owns any post text, photograph, video or screenshot and what the source terms permit. GOV.UK's copyright permissions guide explains licence, ownership and exception routes; it also warns that substantiality is case-specific.
Obtain named IP review before reproducing material. Attribution is not a substitute for permission. Consider privacy, harassment and context even where a narrow copyright exception might be argued.
Separate observation from targeting
Using a public discussion to design a general campaign is different from attaching an identifier to a profile or sending a person a message. ICO guidance says people may object absolutely to personal-data processing for direct marketing, including connected profiling. Its direct-marketing guidance explains where PECR may add rules for electronic communications.
Document purpose, lawful basis, transparency, suppression and channel permission before targeting. Never treat a complaint as consent to receive promotion.
Final release decision
A named UK advertising reviewer should sign the exact claim and placement. Named consumer-law, privacy, IP and legal specialists should approve issues in their remit.
On publication day, reopen every cited page and the operative platform terms. Record changes and recheck the evidence period. Release only approved wording. A clean checklist reduces risk, but cannot promise a lawful, non-misleading or effective campaign.
Before you act
- Write the proposed words, image, audience, placement and landing-page context.
- Mark each statement as opinion, claim, comparison, testimonial, endorsement or targeting input.
- Hold documentary evidence before publication for objective claims.
- Define products, feature, procedure, time window and exclusions for comparisons.
- Obtain named IP review before reproducing post text, photographs or video.
- Document purpose, lawful basis, transparency, suppression and channel permission before targeting.
Common questions
What must be defined before a listening theme becomes an advert?
Set out the exact wording, visuals, who it targets, where it runs and the landing page, then label each statement as opinion, claim, comparison, testimonial, endorsement or targeting input.
When should evidence for an objective claim be held?
CAP Executive's substantiation guidance, published in March 2026, says documentary evidence for objective claims should be held before the advert appears. Ask whether the evidence proves the exact wording, for the advertised product and material audience, at the date of use. Keep the underlying evidence file, methodology, approver and expiry trigger.
How should review and endorsement context be handled?
Keep spontaneous views, invited feedback, gifted items, paid creator output and brand-owned material apart. Where a creator is paid, follow ASA disclosure rules and never remove a label when quoting.
