NAD/NARB Filing Fees to Increase, Effective Feb. 1, 2016

The National Advertising Division (NAD) competitor challenge process plays a critical role in the success of advertising industry self-regulation by publicly demonstrating the advertising industry’s commitment to high standards of truth, accuracy and substantiation.

The challenge process significantly increases NAD’s ability to detect potentially inaccurate or unsubstantiated advertising claims, provides a more robust and informed record for the decisions that are made, enables the creation of the leading archive of precedent on advertising substantiation, and creates a public record of successful self-regulation that the industry can point to with pride.

Since 2001, the NAD process has assessed filing fees to challengers to help defray the costs of the system. Currently, these fees are set at $10,000 for National Partners of BBB National Programs (BBB NP) and the filing fee for challengers who are not BBB NP National Partners is:

• $15,000 for challengers with gross annual revenue of less than $1 billion.
• $25,000 for challengers with gross annual revenue of $1 billion or more.

Effective Feb. 1, 2016:

• We are raising the fee for BBB NP National Partners to $15,000.
• The filing fee for non-National Partners with gross annual revenue of less than $1 billion will be $20,000.
• The filing fee for non-National Partners with gross annual revenue of $1 billion or more will remain at $25,000.
• The filing fee for all appeals before the National Advertising Review Board, both advertiser and challenger appeals, will increase to $15,000 from $12,000.

Because we want to assure access to NAD for small and medium-sized companies, the NAD/CARU/NARB Policies and Procedures will continue to specifically provide that the filing fee can be waived or reduced on a showing of economic hardship. Consumers, of course, may file challenges free of charge.

These changes are effective for cases filed on or after Feb. 1, 2016.

To learn more about NAD, please visit our website at www.asrcreviews.org.

For more information about BBB NP National Partnership, please contact Casey Callaway at ccallaway@bbbnp.org, or at 703.247.9332.

The NAD competitor challenge process is detailed here.