European countries have a long history in advertising self-regulation with some self-regulatory organisations having been set up in the 50s and 60s and some as old as 90 years. Eastern European countries, due to their history, have much younger systems. Advertising watchdogs, as the self-regulatory organisations are also called, also exist in other parts of the world with very well-established systems in Australia, Canada and Brazil amongst many other countries. All self-regulatory organisations world-wide have the same goal: to make sure that advertising doesn’t mislead or offend anyone so that consumer trust in advertising is not damaged.

Inherently, the whole business of advertising is based on consumer trust. Without it, not a single advertising campaign, no matter how elaborate or expensive, would have an impact on consumer decisions. It is therefore very much in the interest of the advertising industry not to break consumer trust.

Self-regulatory organisations ensure consumer trust by providing a complaints handling service for consumers. Most self-regulatory organisations will also handle business-to-business complaints. Unlike consumer complaints which in most countries are handled free of charge, a fee is sometimes charged for B2B complaints.

Most watchdogs also monitor ads in more sensitive areas such as advertising to children, or ads related to food or alcohol.

 Find out whether your national self-regulatory organisation handles B2B complaints

 More detailed information of what a self-regulatory organisation does and what is within its remit