Türkiye launches new era of digital advertising with amendments to the Commercial Advertising and Unfair Commercial Practices Regulation

The Amendments modernise Turkish advertising law and introduce detailed compliance obligations for businesses operating online by providing explicit rules on the use of environmental claims, influencer marketing disclosures, AI-generated advertising content, targeted advertising based on consumer profiling and the publication of consumer reviews.

The revised framework also updates the rules applicable to discount campaigns by introducing channel-specific pricing requirements and clarifying the calculation of reference prices used in discounted sale advertisements. Additionally, new restrictions have been introduced in relation to supplementary food advertising, consumer awards and endorsements, while businesses that enable consumer reviews on online platforms will be required to implement more robust verification and publication mechanisms.

These developments are expected to have a significant impact on e-commerce platforms, marketplaces, advertisers, digital marketing agencies, social media influencers and businesses relying on personalised advertising and online review systems.

Scope of the Amendments

The Amendments apply to:

• E-commerce platforms and online marketplaces;
• Intermediary service providers facilitating distance contracts;
• Retailers and brands advertising products or services to consumers;
• Advertisers and digital marketing agencies;
• Social media influencers and businesses engaging in influencer marketing activities;
• Businesses using artificial intelligence in consumer-facing advertising activities or marketing materials; and
• Online platforms that publish, manage or display consumer reviews and ratings. 

Newly introduced definitions

The Amendments introduce the following new definitions reflecting emerging digital advertising practices and concepts expressly regulated under the Turkish advertising framework:

• Environmental claim: any statement or visual indicating that a good or service provides an environmental benefit or that its negative impact on the environment has been reduced or eliminated in relation to its components, production, placement on the market, presentation, use or disposal process.
• Social media: a platform that enables users to create, view or share content such as text, images, audio, and location information over the internet for the purpose of social interaction.
• Social media influencer: a natural or legal person who engages in marketing communications through social media by sharing content promoting a good or service, either directly or indirectly on their own behalf or on behalf of an advertiser, and who derives any form of benefit from such communication.
• Consumer reviews: any expressions, endorsements, or evaluations published by consumers on the internet, reflecting consumer experiences in relation to a good or service offered to consumers, including its characteristics (including production processes), promotion, sale, delivery, ancillary agreements such as credit and insurance, or use, and including rating mechanisms such as scores or star ratings.

Targeted advertising

New transparency and consumer protection requirements apply to targeted advertising conducted by sellers, service providers, and intermediary service providers facilitating distance contracts, including e-commerce marketplaces and digital platforms. Targeted advertising, defined as the delivery of advertising content to particular individuals or groups based on the analysis of consumers’ online behaviours, preferences, location data, demographic information or similar personal data, is now subject to new transparency requirements. 

Businesses must provide consumers with clear and easily accessible information on the criteria used to target advertisements and how those criteria can be modified. Targeted advertising based on personal data profiling is also prohibited where the consumer is known to be or or reasonably expected to be a child.

AI-generated advertising

The use of artificial intelligence in advertising is now expressly regulated with new transparency obligations applying in specified circumstances. Where advertisements involve the use of artificial intelligence or other software in a manner that significantly influences consumers’ economic behaviour, or where AI-generated digital characters indistinguishable from humans are, this must be clearly disclosed. Advertisements that use AI-generated replicas of real individuals in a way that falsely suggests that the person has personally used, experienced or endorsed the relevant product or service are also prohibited.

Social media influencer advertising

Detailed transparency obligations now apply to influencer marketing and social media advertising. Influencers must clearly disclose when content constitutes advertising, use prescribed labels such as “reklam” (advertisement) or “tanıtım” (promotion), identify the relevant advertiser, and ensure that disclosures are prominent, easily visible, readable, and included across all content formats and postings. For audio-only content, the statement “[reklam veren] hakkında reklam/tanıtım içerir” (contains advertising/promotional content regarding [advertiser]) must be included at the beginning of the broadcast and immediately before the advertisement is aired.

Businesses engaging influencers, affiliates, content creators or brand ambassadors should review their influencer marketing programmes, contractual arrangements, approval processes and compliance monitoring mechanisms.

Discount sale advertisements

The period used to determine the reference price for discount advertisements has been shortened from 30 days to ten days. For services and perishable products, the reference price will be based on the immediately preceding price. Where goods or services are offered through multiple sales channels, the reference price must be determined separately for each channel. Customer loyalty programme advertisements and conditional sales campaigns have also been brought within the scope of these rules.

Consumer reviews

Stricter rules now govern the publication of consumer reviews and ratings. Reviews may only be accepted from consumers who have purchased the relevant product or service, and reviews obtained through channels where purchase verification is not possible may not be published. Review categories, such as product, service, delivery, seller or provider ratings, must also be displayed in a clear, accessible and transparent manner, and reviews must be published for at least one year based on objective criteria without selectively favouring positive feedback. Reviews containing non-compliant health claims may not be published, and businesses are expressly prohibited from generating or purchasing false reviews. The response period granted to sellers before a review is published has been reduced from 72 hours to 48 hours, after which the review will be published directly.

Environmental claims

Environmental claims are now subject to enhanced substantiation and transparency requirements to prevent vague and unsubstantiated advertising. The scope of prohibited environmental advertising has been broadened from “deceptive” to “deceptive and misleading”, effectively lowering the threshold for regulatory enforcement in this area. Advertisers must clearly specify which part, component or stage of the lifecyle of a product or service is covered by an environmental claim and make methodological information readily accessible to consumers. 

General environmental terms and expressions such as “eco-friendly”, “green” or “sustainable” may not be used in advertisements without explanation or in a manner that creates ambiguity regarding the environmental impact of the product or its production processes. Certifications referenced in environmental advertising must also be substantiated by documentation from competent institutions, universities or accredited research and testing bodies.

Academic titles

The existing prohibition on exploiting consumers’ lack of knowledge or experience has been expanded to address the use of academic titles.

Supplementary food advertising

New rules have been introduced for advertisements relating to supplementary foods. Advertisements may not create the impression that such products can replace foods consumed as part of a normal diet. The outright ban on comparative advertising for supplementary foods has been removed. Comparisons relating to health claims, however, remain prohibited. In addition, advertisements may not reference awards that are not based on pre-announced objective criteria or that have been granted in exchange for a benefit.

Expanded advertising prohibitions 

The advertising prohibitions have been expanded to expressly cover illegal games of chance, medicinal products for human use, electronic cigarettes, tobacco products and alcoholic beverages are prohibited.

Entry into force

The Amendments will enter into force on 1 August 2026. Businesses therefore have a limited window to review existing advertising, marketing and platform practices and implement any necessary changes before the new rules become applicable.

Conclusion

The Amendments significantly expand compliance obligations for digital advertising and consumer-facing commercial practices in Türkiye. Many of these topics have already been the subject of scrutiny by the Advertising Board, and the Amendments largely codify existing enforcement trends. Given the Ministry of Trade’s focus on combating misleading advertising and strengthening consumer protection in digital environments, these areas will likely attract regulatory attention following the entry into force of the Amendments on 1 August 2026. 

For more information on the Amendments and their potential impact, contact the experts who contributed to this article: alican.babalioglu@ybk-av.com, melis.celik@ybk-av.com, and ezgi.bahar@ybk-av.com.