Digital economy hits ACCC top priority list

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has marked dodgy digital ecommerce practices across the digital economy as one of its top priorities.

Speaking at the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA), ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said, “Consumer and fair-trading issues in the digital economy will continue to be a priority for the ACCC.” 

Discussing the competition regulators 2024-25 Compliance and Enforcement Priorities, Cass-Gottlieb said the organisation will “focus on misleading or deceptive advertising in influencer marketing, online reviews, in-app purchases, and price comparison websites.”

Cass-Gottlieb said the 2020 health pandemic resulted in a “dramatic shift in the way people shop and how businesses market their product and services”.

“Last year the Australian Consumer Law survey identified that 55 percent of problematic transactions involved online commerce. 

“This is in line with the dramatic increase and take up by consumers for online commerce,” Cass-Gottlieb said. 

According to the ACCC, online advertising dominates the landscape with the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) assessing advertising expenditure on digital advertising grew considerably from $1.7 billion in 2008 to $9.5 billion in Australia in 2020.

“Influencer marketing, online review and comparison tools have become a key to reaching consumers and persuading them to choose particular products and brands. 

Cass-Gottlieb said such tactics also become “a tool for some businesses to manipulate and influence consumer decisions.”

“Last year we released the results of our internet sweep into influencer marketing and online reviews. 

“The results highlighted the extent of the issues, with over 80 percent of influencer posts raising concerns from consumers and more than a third of businesses assessed engaging in concerning conduct in relation to their online product reviews. 

“This survey is the foundation of the ACCC’s ongoing work to develop industry guidance to improve the accuracy and disclosure of sponsorship and commercial arrangements in online advertising practices,” Cass-Gottlieb said. 

Comparison websites will also be looked at closely as the ACCC is concerned “these tools can also mislead consumers and not convey the extent of sponsorship and commercial incentives received from suppliers who are featured in the tools.”

“Finally, we will be closely looking at the video gaming industry in particular in-app purchases. This industry has significant size and reach, particularly with younger consumers. 

Cass-Gottlieb said, “Far too often we hear concerns about consumers incurring huge purchases because of in-app offerings that have inadequate safeguards, or in some cases, deliberately target and nudge or confuse consumers.”

Cost of living pressures, supermarkets, competition and consumer protection issues in essential services, aviation, unfair contract terms, consumer guarantees and ACL issues associated with the National Disability Insurance Scheme were also listed as the ACCC’s top enforcement priorities.