FTC Act (deceptive advertising)

In the United States the basic rule against misleading consumers comes from the Federal Trade Commission Act. The FTC describes the Act as empowering it to prevent unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce, to seek remedies for consumer harm and to write rules.

For online advertising, the FTC's native advertising guidance applies this to formats that look like editorial content. The test is the overall "net impression" on a reasonable consumer: if people would not realise something is an ad, or the ad implies something untrue, it can be deceptive even when each individual word is technically accurate. The guidance also says everyone in the chain, including advertisers, agencies, publishers and affiliate networks, can be responsible.

This reaches search arbitrage in two places: the upstream creative (a misleading ad promising free benefits) and the lander (ads or related search terms presented as if they were editorial recommendations). Platform policy is the day-to-day enforcer, but the law sits behind it. Other countries have equivalent consumer protection laws.