The Fair Trade Commission announced on the 16th that more than 22,000 posts were detected last year that appeared to be 'back advertisements' on social media.
According to the Fair Trade Commission's '2024 Social Media Back Advertisement Monitoring Results' announced on the same day, a total of 22,011 posts suspected of being back advertisements were discovered last year through inspections conducted on Instagram, Naver Blog, Naver Cafe, Naver Post, YouTube, TikTok, and other major social media platforms, which were commissioned to the Korea Internet Ad Foundation.
The Act on Fair Labeling and Advertising prohibits back advertisements when a social media post author receives economic compensation, such as products from advertisers, without clearly indicating that fact. This is because it disguises advertisements as consumer reviews that significantly influence purchasing decisions and disrupts normal consumer behavior.
Last year's detection numbers were highest on Instagram, with 10,195 cases. This was followed by Naver Blog (9,423 cases) and YouTube (1,409 cases).
By type, the most common case was displaying the fact that it was an advertisement in less visible areas such as 'see more' sections, descriptions, and comments, totaling 10,553 cases (39.4%).
The number of posts that did not indicate it at all was 7,095 (26.5%), and the cases where it was indicated in small text or blurry images numbered 4,640 (17.3%).
By industry classification, the proportions were highest in 'Health and Hygiene Products' (5,200 cases, 23.6%), 'Clothing, Textiles, and Personal Goods' (4,774 cases, 21.7%), and 'Food and Beverages' (2,492 cases, 11.3%).
This year, especially under one minute short videos known as 'short-form content' saw a significant increase in back advertisements, the Fair Trade Commission analyzed. A total of 1,736 cases were detected as suspicious on Instagram Reels, 1,209 cases on YouTube Shorts, and 736 cases on TikTok.
The Fair Trade Commission noted, 'This is the result of strengthening inspections on short-form content, which has recently emerged as a major advertising tool, and indicates that creators and advertisers have not yet fully recognized their obligation to disclose economic interests.'
As a result of urging the post authors and advertisers to self-correct the 22,011 detected cases, a total of 26,033 cases were corrected. The reason the correction numbers exceeded the detections is that authors, after receiving notifications, self-corrected even posts that had not been detected.
A Fair Trade Commission official stated, 'We plan to continue the inspection of back advertisements to ensure accurate consumer information and rational purchasing choices,' adding that they are also preparing a guide that reflects recent guideline revisions to distribute in the second half of the year.