Court of Justice of the EU Finds that Advertising Shown in Email Inbox is Subject to Rules on Direct Marketing
On November 26, 2021, the Court of Justice of the EU (“CJEU”) held in Case C-102/20 that the display of advertising messages in an electronic inbox in a form similar to that of an actual email constitutes direct marketing, and therefore is subject to EU Member States’ rules on direct marketing. In this case, the advertisement in question was shown in the inbox list of a user’s private emails, resembling the appearance of an email, although it was labelled “advertisement”.
The CJEU emphasized in its decision that this form of advertisement is distinguishable from advertising banners or pop-up windows that appear at the outer edge of private messages or separately from them. According to the CJEU, the advertisement here was subject to direct marketing rules because it resembled an electronic communication (i.e., an email).
