I’ve been victim (stupidity or entrapment, I’m not sure yet) to a couple of mobile subscription services recently. Browsing any old half-decent mobile site only to be hit with a 5 euro/month charge that apparently I opted into once downloading the content. And no. It wasn’t THAT kind of content.
It brings to mind the issue of ethics in digital advertising. The internet suffers already from signal-to-noise ratio. Too much noise. Too much crap. Too hard to differentiate the value from the self-promotion. Into this broad bucket falls the latest round of subscription services. To me, this falls within the realms of borderline practices as previously blogged: random number dialling. Pah. Don’t get me started again.
Try this one on for size. Nice clean background, big call to action, juicy gadget as the main image. And a little nip in the bottom signing your fate at R10/month.
So just what are the rules? How easy must it be to identify and unsubscribe from these services?
Here are some clauses from Vodacom’s Waspa code of conduct.
6.2.12 (c) If the transaction is to initiate a subscription service, then the price and frequency of the service must be included directly in the text of the WAP link or immediately adjacent to it and must be visible on the same screen as the link.
11. Subscription services
11.1. Manner of subscription
11.1.1. Promotional material for all subscription services must prominently and explicitly identify the services as “subscription services”. This includes any promotional material where a subscription is required to obtain any portion of a service, facility, or information promoted in that material.
11.1.2. Any request from a customer to join a subscription service must be an independent transaction, with the specific intention of subscribing to a service. A request from a subscriber to join a subscription service may not be a request for a specific content item.
11.1.3. An advert for a subscription service which includes examples of the content provided as part of that service must include at least two examples of that content clearly displayed.
11.1.4. Where possible, billing for a subscription service must indicate that the service purchased is a subscription service.
11.1.5. Customers may not be automatically subscribed to a subscription service as a result of a request for any non-subscription content or service.
11.1.6. Subscription services with different billing frequencies should not have a subscription mechanism likely to cause a customer to accidentally subscribe to a more frequent service.
11.1.7. Members must ensure that children accessing subscription services confirm that they have permission from a parent or guardian do to so.
11.1.8. Once a customer has subscribed to a subscription service, a notification message must immediately be sent to the customer. This welcome message must be a clear notification of the following information, and should not be mistaken for an advert or marketing message:
1. The name of the subscription service;
2. The cost of the subscription service and the frequency of the charges;
3. Clear and concise instructions for unsubscribing from the service;
4. The service provider’s telephone number.
11.1.9. Once a customer has subscribed to a subscription service, neither the amount and frequency of the charges nor the frequency of the service may be increased without the customer’s explicit permission.
11.1.10. Where a subscription service is initiated by a user replying to a message from a service provider where that message contains instructions for activating a service and/or where that message contains an activation code that when inputted by the user activates a subscription service, then that message, along with the subscription initiation instructions and/or activation code, must also include the subscription service information in the following format, flow and wording:
[service activation instructions and/or activation code]. U’ll b subscribed to [XYZ service] from [name of service provider] @ [cost of service and frequency of billing]. Help? Call [call centre number + “(VAS)” if applicable]. To unsubscribe, [unsubscribe instructions].
Well 11.1.2 immediately disqualifies my euro experience. I haven’t dared to click on this one — but whether this is completely above board (which it may be) or not — I’m noticing a lot of ads where the single-minded message is more about tricking a click/subscribe than it is about singing the benefits of a product or service.
Will Google eventually drown in its own collection of bad ads? Maybe not. But these types of ads do introduce an element of distrust in digital advertising which is not good for anyone.
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