Online advertising experiences survey

A recent Ipsos survey, commissioned by the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS) provides evidence on the online advertising experiences of internet users aged 18 and over, as well as children, through insights provided by their parents. 

The survey, conducted in April 2024 with over 8,500 participants on the Ipsos UK KnowledgePanel, aimed to understand the prevalence and impact of perceived illegal and misleading online advertising. Around three-quarters (73%) of respondents reported having either definitely ever seen or possibly ever seen at least one online advert that they believed promoted a perceived illegal product or service, ranging from counterfeit goods and illicit services to ads facilitating cybercrime. While 32% reported definitely seeing such ads, the high proportion of "possibly" responses (41%) suggests a degree of uncertainty among the public regarding the legality of some products/services they perceived to have seen advertised online. 

Social media platforms were the most common place where people recall seeing such ads (cited by 58% of those who had seen such ads), followed by search engines (14%) and shopping websites (12%). A quarter (25%) of those who said they had definitely seen such ads reported that it made them feel stressed, anxious or had some other impact on their mental health, whilst 9% reported financial losses.

Misleading advertising was also coved in the survey. Overall, one in five (20%) respondents said they thought they had ever seen or heard online advertising that they knew was misleading, while a further 39% said that they had seen online advertising that they strongly suspect was misleading. Similar to perceived illegal ads, advertisements that were felt to be misleading were most frequently encountered on social media (cited by 65%). A quarter (24%) of those who cited seeing advertising they knew to be misleading in the past year reported negative impacts on their mental health, and 12% reported financial losses.

The study also explored parents’ experiences of children's online activity. While three quarters (76%) of parents expressed confidence in knowing what their children see online, 23% were not, particularly regarding older children. In total, 57% of parents surveyed said that they thought or knew that their children had seen ads for inappropriate products/services online, including those for unhealthy food and drink (48%), gambling products/companies (21%), and alcohol (16%).

The full research report can be found here. 

Technical note: 

• This data has been collected by Ipsos’s UK KnowledgePanel, a random probability online panel which provides gold standard insights into the UK population, by providing bigger sample sizes via the most rigorous research methods.
• Ipsos interviewed a representative sample of 8,511 adults aged 16+ in the UK. Interviews were conducted online between 4-10 April 2024.
• Data are weighted to match the profile of the population. All polls are subject to a wide range of potential sources of error.
• Whilst the survey included relevant definitions and prompts, results around exposure to potentially illegal or misleading advertising are based on respondents’ personal recall of what they have seen and their own interpretation of what is potentially misleading and what might constitute illegal products/services.