Persistent Ads That Follow You... Reporting Site to Open

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] Users can now directly report floating advertisements that hover over internet content, obscuring part or all of the information, also known as 'floating ads.'

On the 30th, the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) distributed a guidebook on prohibited acts under the Telecommunications Business Act related to floating ads and opened a user reporting portal on the KCC website.

In March 2017, the KCC amended the Enforcement Decree of the Telecommunications Business Act to prohibit acts restricting the removal of floating ads. However, new types of violating ads continue to appear, causing ongoing inconvenience to users. Floating ads are displayed in a way that covers information such as news articles or posts. Even when users click the removal button, the ads persist, reducing readability and causing inconvenience by not disappearing after deletion attempts.

To promptly resolve user inconveniences caused by floating ads, the KCC established a user reporting center on both the KCC website and the User Information Portal. Users can report by clicking the 'Floating Ad Report Center' banner at the top right of the KCC homepage or by accessing the User Information Portal and submitting their report under 'Information Plaza → Floating Ad Report Center menu.'

Additionally, the guidebook on floating ads includes specific violation cases by detailed types: △ ads without a removal button making deletion impossible, △ ads with a removal button but deletion impossible, △ ads with a removal button but difficult to delete, and △ other ads with restricted removal, totaling four types and nine detailed violation forms. The violation cases also cover new forms such as generating a new popup ad when clicking the removal button or only showing the removal button when the mouse cursor moves over the ad screen instead of displaying it immediately.

Han Sang-hyuk, Chairman of the KCC, emphasized, “Since new types of floating ads causing user inconvenience may continue to emerge, we must actively monitor and simultaneously carry out multifaceted efforts such as educating and guiding businesses,” urging businesses to voluntarily comply with the law.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.