Joint Public-Private Task Force Launch Meeting to Address Illegal Advertising Agency Practices Held

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the Fair Trade Commission, the Ministry of Science and ICT, and other related organizations and associations in the online advertising agency sector announced on the 23rd that they held the inaugural meeting of the "Public-Private Cooperative Advertising Agency Illegal Activity Response Task Force (TF)" (hereinafter referred to as ‘TF’).

This TF was formed as the online advertising market is rapidly growing due to the development of SNS and the expansion of non-face-to-face transactions, while damages to self-employed individuals caused by fraudulent online advertising agencies’ poor promotions and refusal of refunds are continuously increasing.

At the meeting, the TF operation regulations were finalized. For efficient operation, the TF was divided into the Legal Support Division and the Education & Promotion Division. The Legal Support Division will hold meetings at least once per quarter to request investigations into fraudulent online advertising agencies, while the Education & Promotion Division will hold meetings as needed to conduct awareness-raising activities such as education and promotion aimed at preventing damages related to online advertising agencies for self-employed individuals.

They reviewed advertising agencies with frequent complaints and decided to request investigations into two of these agencies. These agencies were recognized to have engaged in acts such as ▲guaranteeing the registration of desired keywords and top exposure in keyword advertising during contract signing but failing to fulfill these promises ▲falsely explaining the occurrence of ‘certification fees’ that do not exist on platforms to inflate charges and include them in penalty fees ▲refusing refunds by excessively calculating already incurred costs or imposing excessively high penalty fees upon contract termination requests. Accordingly, it was decided to request investigations by the competent investigative authorities.

The TF plans to open an "Online Advertising Agency Fraud Reporting Center" to allow self-employed individuals who have suffered damages from illegal acts by online advertising agencies to easily report related issues to the TF, and will produce and distribute a reporting manual. Furthermore, to ensure that self-employed individuals are always aware of precautions when signing contracts with online advertising agencies, stickers containing related information will be produced and distributed.

This TF is significant in that it has established a channel for both the private sector and government to jointly respond to the eradication of damages caused by online advertising agencies, one of the four major livelihood damages faced by small business owners. The TF will take the lead in establishing a fair trade order in the online advertising agency market through strict law enforcement against fraudulent acts by online advertising agencies and expanded education and promotion targeting self-employed individuals.

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