AMENDMENTS TO THE REGULATION ON COMMERCIAL ADVERTISING AND UNFAIR COMMERCIAL PRACTICES
The Regulation Amending the Regulation on Commercial Advertising and Unfair Commercial Practices (the “Amending Regulation”), published in the Official Gazette dated 1 July 2026 and numbered 33297, amended the Regulation on Commercial Advertising and Unfair Commercial Practices (the “Regulation”). The amendments, which will enter into force on 1 August 2026, reshape a broad range of areas, particularly targeted advertising, social media advertising, artificial intelligence, discount sales, environmental claims and consumer reviews.
The Amending Regulation has incorporated into the Regulation certain principles previously set out in the Advertising Board’s guidelines on social media influencers, environmental claims, consumer reviews and discounts offered through different sales channels.
Transparency in Targeted Advertising and Protection of Children
Targeted advertising has been defined for the first time under Article 25/A, which was added to the Regulation. The analysis by sellers, providers or intermediary service providers facilitating the conclusion of distance contracts on their behalf of consumers’ online behaviour, past preferences, location data, demographic information or similar personal data in order to deliver advertising tailored to specific individuals or groups is deemed targeted advertising.
Consumers must be provided with direct and easily accessible information on the criteria used to display the advertisement and how those criteria may be changed. Accordingly, in addition to personal data protection obligations, the reason why an advertisement is directed at a particular consumer must also be understandable.
Targeted advertising based on personal data profiling is prohibited where the consumer is known, or could reasonably be expected to be known, to be a child. Digital platforms and advertisers should therefore reassess their age-detection mechanisms, target-audience selections and advertisement delivery criteria.
Advertisements by Social Media Influencers
The principles on clearly identifying advertisements, previously set out in the Guidelines on Social Media Influencers, have become regulatory provisions under Article 23/A, which was added to the Regulation. Where a social media influencer receives financial compensation, free or discounted goods or services, or any other benefit in return for a post, the advertising nature of the content must be clearly disclosed.
The post must use either the wording “Advertisement” or “Promotion”, accompanied by the advertiser’s name or trade name or one of the disclosures specified in the Regulation that clearly identifies the advertiser.
The advertising disclosure must be distinguishable from the background and other content, easily readable, and visible when the consumer first encounters the post. Consumers must not be required to scroll or navigate to another area to see the disclosure, which must appear before other tags. The disclosure must be repeated in each item of content; in audio-only broadcasts, it must be made at the beginning of the broadcast and before the advertisement.
New Rules on Advertisements Using Artificial Intelligence
Under the provision added to Article 18 of the Regulation, where artificial intelligence or other software is used in a way that could significantly affect a consumer’s economic behaviour, or where AI technologies are used to create digital characters indistinguishable from humans, this fact must be disclosed in a clear, understandable and readily distinguishable manner.
Advertisements that falsely create the impression that an AI-generated digital replica of a real person has personally experienced, used or endorsed a good or service are also prohibited. Accordingly, fabricated testimonials or endorsements may not be created through digital replicas of real persons.
As a compliance measure, advertisers and advertising agencies should keep records of AI-assisted content creation processes and, before publication, assess whether the characters, voices, images and endorsements used could be associated with a real person.
Determination of the Prior Price in Discount Sales Advertisements
The amendment to Article 14 of the Regulation reduces the period used to determine the prior price in discount sales advertisements. For goods, the reference price will be the lowest price applied during the ten days preceding the start of the discount; for perishable goods such as fruit and vegetables, and for services, the price immediately preceding the discounted price will apply.
Where goods or services are offered through different sales channels, the prior price will be determined solely by reference to the price applied in the channel where the discount is offered. Accordingly, a price applied in one channel, such as a physical store, website or mobile application, may not be used as the basis for a discount in another channel. The principle that different sales channels must be assessed independently had previously been adopted in the Guidelines on Price Information and Discount Sales Advertisements.
Advertisements for readily accessible and usable loyalty programs, as well as conditional sales advertisements that make a discount or other benefit subject to a specific quantity, number, amount or transaction requirement, will, as a rule, be subject to the provisions governing discount sales. In this respect, the Regulation departs from the previous approach of the Guidelines, under which such conditional sales were not regarded as discount sales.
Scope and Substantiation of Environmental Claims
The principles previously set out in the Guidelines on Environmental Claims have been incorporated into the Regulation by the Amending Regulation, which also defines the term “environmental claim”. Statements and images claiming that a good or service provides an environmental benefit, or has a reduced or no adverse environmental impact, in relation to its components, production, placing on the market, supply, use or disposal fall within this definition.
The use of general expressions such as “environmentally friendly” and “green” without the necessary explanation or in a manner that creates ambiguity is prohibited. The claim must specify the part of the product or the stage of its life cycle to which it relates, and the measurement and assessment methods must be easily accessible from the advertising medium.
Environmental certificates and approvals referred to in advertisements must be substantiated by documents obtained from competent authorities or institutions, relevant university departments, or accredited or independent research, testing and assessment bodies.
Consumer Reviews and Complaint Platforms
Certain principles set out in the Guidelines on Consumer Reviews have been converted into binding rules through the amendments to Article 28/B of the Regulation, and the rules governing the verification and presentation of online consumer reviews have been further detailed. Reviews obtained from channels where the purchasing process cannot be verified may not be published or used in advertisements.
Review rules may not be designed to prevent consumers from commenting on goods, services or related ancillary contracts, or to restrict their comments to certain matters. Where reviews are published separately under different headings, such as goods, services, delivery, sellers or providers, all reviews must be presented in the same area in a clear and easily accessible manner.
The requirement to publish both positive and negative reviews, without distinction, following the necessary examination, in accordance with objective ranking criteria and for at least one year has been retained. Where reviews are used in other media, the content reproduced must reflect the overall nature of the reviews on the original platform in terms of both content and ratings.
The period granted to sellers or providers to respond on complaint platforms has been reduced from seventy-two hours to forty-eight hours. If no response is provided within this period, the review may be published directly. Platforms should therefore update their notification and response processes accordingly.
Other Advertising Prohibitions and Sector-Specific Rules
Article 7, as amended, prohibits the misleading use of academic titles. Advertisements for consumer goods or services may not refer to awards granted in return for a benefit that are not based on objective criteria announced in advance.
The general prohibition on comparative advertising for food supplements has been removed, while the rule that matters falling within the scope of health claims may not be compared has been retained. However, such products may not be advertised in a manner that creates the impression that they can replace foods consumed as part of a normal diet.
The prohibition on advertisements for fortune-telling, psychics, astrology and similar services, as well as illegal betting and gambling, has been expanded to cover illegal games of chance. The Regulation also expressly sets out the prohibition on advertisements for medicinal products for human use, electronic cigarettes, tobacco products and alcoholic beverages.
CONCLUSION
The Amending Regulation adapts the general principles of truthfulness and fairness in advertising law to digital advertising processes and introduces more specific obligations regarding the explainability of personalized advertising and the verification of online reviews. The regulations pertaining to artificial intelligence and environmental claims also encompass the technical processes and supporting documentation underlying advertisements, thereby subjecting them to legal scrutiny.
In this context, advertisers, sellers and providers, intermediary service providers, advertising agencies and social media influencers should review their advertisement approval processes, influencer agreements, AI-related disclosures, price records, documentation supporting environmental claims and consumer review systems before 1 August 2026.