UK advertising watchdog ASA today published a ruling against Aurum & Argenti Ltd t/a bullionclub.co.uk.

Two issues were investigated, both of which were Upheld.

The ruling concerns a paid for Google ad for Bullion Club, a supplier of gold, seen in June 2024. The ad stated, “… Gold Investments 2023 Gold Collectors Guide. Gold has historically held its value over time, making it a good hedge against inflation. Gold …”.

The ASA challenged whether the ad was misleading because it:

• failed to illustrate the risk of the investments; and
• did not make clear that past performance did not necessarily give a guide for the future.

The ASA noted that the ad contained no text stating that investments were variable and could go down as well as up or that gold investment was unregulated.

The Authority understood that the ad had led to a landing page on the Bullion Club’s website that had included text with information that the value of gold could fall and rise, and that they were not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

However, the relevant text was at the bottom of the page at the time the ad appeared. It therefore had not been immediately visible and consumers had to scroll a long way to the bottom of the page to locate it. While the ASA understood from Bullion Club that a second similar explanation had been displayed more prominently on the landing page at the time the ad was originally seen, the ASA had not seen evidence of that.

The ASA noted that changes had been made to the website. The risk warnings about gold being unregulated, that investments could go down as well as up and that past performance was not necessarily a guide for the future, were more prominent when viewing on a mobile device, although a consumer still had to scroll down on the desktop version.

In any case, because at the time the ad was seen it did not include any risk warnings and the landing page had not presented that information immediately to consumers, the ASA concluded that the ad was misleading.

On those points the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 and 3.3 (Misleading advertising), 3.9 (Qualification) and 14.4 and 14.5 (Financial products).

The ASA concluded the ad must not appear again in its current form. The Authority told Aurum & Argenti Ltd t/a Bullion Club to ensure that future marketing made sufficiently clear that gold investment was unregulated and that the value of investments was variable and could go down as well as up.

The ASA also told Bullion Club to make clear that examples of past performance or experience were not necessarily a guide to the future.