The ASAI is the body that decides whether an ad in Ireland is honest, and whether an influencer’s post is labelled as the ad it is. It renamed itself the Advertising Standards Authority in 2024, but almost everyone still says ASAI, so that’s what this guide calls it.
If you run ads, sponsor posts, send products to creators or use affiliate links, its Code applies to you, and since February 2026 the CCPC has been issuing compliance notices to people who ignore it. Here is what the ASAI does, what its Code says, exactly how a paid or gifted post has to be labelled, and what happens when it isn’t. Every rule below is quoted from the ASAI, the CCPC, Coimisiún na Meán or Revenue.
What does the ASAI do?
It describes itself as “the independent self-regulatory body set up and financed by the advertising industry and committed, in the public interest, to promoting the highest standards of marketing communications”. It has been doing that “for over 40 years”.
Two words in that matter. Self-regulatory means it is not a government body. The advertising industry set it up and pays for it. Independent means its complaints committee rules against its own funders all the time, and publishes the results.
In practice the ASAI does four things. It writes the Code that ads in Ireland have to follow. It takes complaints from anyone who thinks an ad breaks it. It investigates and publishes an adjudication, naming the advertiser. And it gives advertisers copy advice before an ad runs, so the complaint never happens.
What it can’t do is fine you or prosecute you. That’s the CCPC’s job, covered below.
What does ASAI stand for?
Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland. In March 2024 it dropped the “for Ireland” and became the Advertising Standards Authority, or ASA, with a new logo and the address adstandards.ie. The Code, the complaints process and the people are the same. Search for “ASAI” and you’ll still find it; so will this page.
What is in the ASAI Code?
The Code is in its 7th edition, and it covers “advertising, promotional marketing and direct marketing” in every medium, social media included. Its sections run from general rules and misleading advertising through promotions, distance selling, children, food and drink, alcohol, gambling, health and beauty, slimming, financial products, employment and business opportunities, environmental claims, e-cigarettes and online behavioural advertising.
For most Irish businesses, four lines in the general rules do the heavy lifting:
- 3.31 “A marketing communication should be designed and presented in such a way that it is clear that it is a marketing communication.”
- 3.32 “Marketing communications should not be presented as, for example, market research, consumer surveys, user-generated content, private blogs, or independent reviews if their purpose is marketing, i.e. the promotion of a product.”
- 3.33 “Advertorials should be clearly identified, should be distinguished from editorial matter and should comply with the Code.”
- 3.34 “The identity of the advertiser, product or service should be apparent.”
Read those again with an influencer’s feed in mind. A post that looks like a personal recommendation but was paid for breaks 3.31 and 3.32 at once. That is the whole reason the labelling rules exist.
The ASAI rules for influencer posts
The ASAI and the CCPC published joint influencer guidance in October 2023, and it is specific. It applies to “all those who promote or recommend products or services on social media for a benefit (monetary or non-monetary)”, and the CCPC adds that this “includes human, virtual or animal personas”. A benefit is money, “commissions, proceeds from sales, discounts, company shares, offers of future business contracts, products/services gifted or lent to you for use, trips, event invitations or experiences, or any other type of benefit.”
The labels you can use
Every commercial post needs one primary label, and “this label should be the most prominent label in the post”.
| Label | When to use it |
|---|---|
| #Ad (or #Fógra for a post in Irish) | Any post you were paid for, given something for, or asked to make |
| The platform’s own label, such as Paid partnership | Counts as a primary label on its own |
| #Gifted (or #Féirín) | “Use only when you receive unsolicited products or services, and the brand has not directly influenced your post” |
Labels such as #Collaboration, #BrandAmbassador, #Sponsored, #Affiliate, #PRstay, #PRinvite, #PressDrop and #OwnBrand are secondary. The guidance says to “only use in addition to (and following) primary label”. On their own they don’t count.
Where the label goes
- “The label should be the first word in any text block.”
- “Do not put the label at the end or at the bottom of a post (or where a reader must click ‘see more’ to find the label).”
- For video, “use a clear visual advertising label at the start of your video”.
- For Stories and anything else that expires, “you must label each individual post”.
- “It is not enough to only disclose your commercial interest in a brand in the bio.”
Affiliate links
The guidance is blunt: “If you use affiliate marketing… this should be clearly labelled as ‘#Ad’… It is not enough to only include a link to the product or service.” If you earn from a link, the post is an ad. Our guide to affiliate marketing in Ireland covers the tax side too.
Gifted products, #Gifted or #Ad?
This is where most mistakes happen. The joint guidance says: “If you post about the gifts received and the brand has influenced any aspect of the post’s content or has requested that you post, this must be labelled as ‘#Ad’. Otherwise, ‘#gifted’ is an acceptable label.”
So a parcel that arrived unasked, posted about freely, is #Gifted. A parcel that came with “we’d love a Story” is #Ad. The ASAI and the CCPC read gifts slightly differently, and the guidance says so: under the ASAI Code, labelling isn’t required “unless the brand has influenced the content of the post or requested a post in exchange for the gift”, while the CCPC treats any post made for a benefit as commercial. The safe answer is the stricter one. If in doubt, #Ad.
The brand is responsible, not only the influencer
The guidance puts it on both sides. To brands: “You are responsible for ensuring that any commercial posts relating to your brand by a social media influencer contain the necessary labels.” When the ASAI upholds a complaint, it publishes an adjudication “naming you and the brand”.
That means a written brief. Tell the creator which label to use, where it goes, and that Stories need it every time. Keep the brief. It’s your evidence that you asked.
What the CCPC can do that the ASAI can’t
The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission is the statutory regulator. Its guidance says “influencers must make it clear if their posts are of a commercial nature, or they could be breaching the law”, because the Consumer Protection Act 2007 “bans certain commercial practices that are deemed to be unfair or misleading to consumers”. An influencer “may fall under the definition of ‘trader'” in that Act.
Its tools are “compliance notices, fixed payment notices, undertakings, prohibition orders and prosecution”. And it uses them. On 12 February 2026 the CCPC announced compliance notices against Conor McGregor and Suzanne Jackson for “failing to disclose the commercial nature of content”, alongside actions against retailers and pubs. Its enforcement chief Patrick Kenny said: “Whether you’re a retailer, a publican or an influencer, you must comply with consumer law.” The CCPC’s own line: “Failure to obey a compliance notice is an offence.”
The rules on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram videos
Since the Online Safety Code from Coimisiún na Meán, published in October 2024, the platforms have obligations too. Designated video-sharing platforms must give uploaders “a functionality… to declare whether such videos contain audiovisual commercial communications”, must “clearly inform users where programmes and user-generated videos contain audiovisual commercial communications”, and must make sure such communications “are readily recognisable as such”. The Code also bans “surreptitious audiovisual commercial communications” and ads that “directly exhort children to buy or hire a product”.
The practical effect: when Instagram or TikTok asks whether your video is a paid partnership, that toggle is now part of Irish law, not a courtesy. Use it.
Tax on gifted products and influencer income
Revenue published a manual on this in July 2025, and it closes the loophole people assumed existed. “Income derived from social media or promotional activities is chargeable to tax even in circumstances where the activity is conducted on a casual basis only.”
Gifts count. If unsolicited goods are kept and promoted, they “will be subject to income tax”. The amount is “the value of the non-monetary consideration received”, which for a handbag is “its fair value, being the price at which a transaction to sell the handbag would take place in the marketplace”. Revenue’s own example ends with the creator obliged “to declare the receipt of the handbag as taxable income”. The return is a Form 11, due “by the 31st of October of the following tax year”.
VAT registration is required once turnover passes “€42,500, in the case of persons supplying services only”. Sponsored posts are services. Our VAT calculator shows what 23% does to a fee.
The EU rules underneath all of this
The Digital Services Act has applied across the EU since 17 February 2024. It requires platforms to give users “a functionality to declare whether the content they provide is or contains commercial communications”, to show who an ad is for and who paid for it, and it bans advertising “based on profiling” where the platform knows the user is a minor. The European Commission’s Influencer Legal Hub says plainly that “advertising (including brand partnerships on social media, when you create content in exchange for products or services, or affiliate marketing) must be disclosed”.
Next is the Digital Fairness Act, which the Commission describes as “currently under preparation” and aimed at “dark patterns; addictive design of digital products; unfair personalisation practices; misleading marketing by influencers”. When it lands, the labelling rules above will get a statutory EU backbone.
How to complain to the ASAI about an ad
Anyone can. “The ASA reviews complaints from any person or body who considers that a marketing communication may be in breach of its Code.” You complain through adstandards.ie, the advertiser is asked to respond, the independent complaints committee decides, and the adjudication is published whether it is upheld or not. The ASAI keeps a complainant’s identity confidential on request. There’s no fee.
A checklist for Irish businesses using influencers
- Write a brief that names the primary label (#Ad or Paid partnership) and says it goes first, in every Story, at the start of every video.
- Decide before you send a product whether you’re asking for a post. If you are, it’s #Ad, not #Gifted.
- Use the platform’s paid partnership tool as well as the hashtag. The Online Safety Code expects it.
- Tell affiliates their links make every post an ad.
- Keep the briefs and the posts. The brand is named in an adjudication alongside the creator.
- Remind creators that gifts are taxable income. It saves an awkward conversation later.
The same honesty applies to your own ads. If a claim in a Google or Meta ad can’t be backed up, the Code’s misleading advertising section is where the complaint lands. Our guides to advertising a small business in Ireland and what Instagram ads cost assume the ads are honest to begin with.
Questions people ask about the ASAI
What does the ASAI do?
It sets the Code that advertising in Ireland follows, takes complaints about ads that may break it, investigates them and publishes the outcome. It is funded by the advertising industry and is not a government body.
What is the full form of ASAI?
Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland. Since March 2024 it is called the Advertising Standards Authority, or ASA.
Is the ASAI a government body?
No. It is self-regulatory and industry-funded. The government regulator for consumer law is the CCPC, which can issue compliance notices and prosecute.
What happens if you break the ASAI Code?
The ASAI publishes an adjudication naming the advertiser and the brand. If the post also breaks consumer law, the CCPC can issue a compliance notice, and ignoring one is an offence.
Do I have to label a gifted post?
If the brand asked for the post or influenced it, yes, with #Ad. If the gift arrived unasked and you posted freely, #Gifted is acceptable. The label goes first, not at the end and not only in your bio.
Are affiliate links advertising?
Yes. The joint ASAI and CCPC guidance says affiliate posts “should be clearly labelled as ‘#Ad'”, and a link on its own is not enough.
Sources
The Advertising Standards Authority’s Code, general rules and about page; the joint ASA and CCPC influencer guidance (October 2023); the CCPC’s influencer advertising and marketing guidance and its enforcement announcement of 12 February 2026; Coimisiún na Meán’s Online Safety Code (October 2024); Revenue’s Taxation of Income from Social Media and Promotional Activities (July 2025) and VAT thresholds; the Digital Services Act and the European Commission’s Influencer Legal Hub. Read in September 2026. This is a guide, not legal advice.
