Editor’s Note:

As promised, here is an update on ASA Developments from our friends at Lewis Silkin LLP. We were very interested in this case development from the UK around the issue of whether good faith reliance on a third party’s representations is sufficient due diligence to support claims. Below you will find an alert regarding recent ASA rulings.

Given that there were 48 rulings published by the Advertising Standards Authority last week, you could be forgiven for overlooking what, at face value, appeared to be a trivial ruling in relation to a webpage on Expedia for the Kingsway Hotel in Minehead. On closer inspection, however, the ruling demonstrates how Expedia have succeeded where TripAdvisor did not and how the ASA may have gone a bit Nigel Farage in appearing to declare regulatory independence from the Court of Justice of the European Union (the ‘EU Court of Justice’).

Whereas the ASA took into account the reasonableness of Expedia relying upon statements made on the hotel’s own website, a preceding EU Court of Justice ruling has stated that professional diligence (or reasonable reliance on third party information) should not be a relevant consideration.

You can read more detail about the case, the decision taken and their recommendation for advertisers in light of the ruling in the Journal post here.