This afternoon, Google have announced a global suspension of Viagogo‘s advertising account – with immediate effect.
More details here at BBC.co.uk.
FanFair Alliance have campaigned extensively on the issue of misleading search advertising by secondary ticketing sites, particularly Viagogo – publishing detailed research, appealing to the Advertising Standards Authority, engaging constructively with Google, and raising the impact of these practices before the DCMS Select Committee.
Adam Webb, Campaign Manager, FanFair Alliance:
“This is a landmark moment, and a major step forward to preventing exploitation of audiences in the secondary ticketing market.
“After publishing extensive research highlighting the impacts of Viagogo’s misleading search advertising, FanFair Alliance has been in constructive conversations with Google for over two years in an attempt to address this issue.
“We are delighted they have finally acted and suspended Viagogo’s advertising. We now hope other platforms, particularly Facebook, can follow Google’s example.”