When a new marketing channel appears, can regulation be far behind? There are moves afoot to extend the remit of the Advertising Standards Authority to include social media.

In the US, the Federal Trade Commission has already set guidelines for social media marketing. Now in the UK the Advertising Association has proposed an amendment to the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) Code which, if accepted, will cover ‘companies’ marketing communications on their own websites and other non-paid for space online’.

This move is hardly surprising, considering how controversial marketers’ activity has been in the past, in the areas of mail, email and telephone especially. Regulation is something we are getting used to. And one thing has become clear: after the initial panic at the thought of restraints to their activity has subsided, most marketers don’t worry about it. They recognise that some sort of order and discipline is required if consumers are not to be turned off, making it impossible for businesses to benefit from the channel at all.

The problem, as always, is keeping the miscreants in check. It only takes a few cowboys to ruin it for the rest. So a lot will depend on how far the ASA’s remit extends in practice with regard to social media, and what powers it has to enforce the new rules.