Bulldog slammed by ad watchdog for missing speeds

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has rapped Bulldog over the knuckles after receiving complaints that the ISP had been promising broadband speeds it could not deliver.

The ASA received a number of complaints about two of Bulldog's adverts promoting its 4Mbps service.

One Bulldog customer stated the service had never delivered the promised 4Mbps and therefore the advert was misleading to radio listeners. In response, Bulldog said the advert told listeners that 'conditions apply' and pointed would-be customers towards their website, where users were alerted that the 4Mbps was an optimum rather than a likely speed.

The ASA, however, sided with the customer, saying in its adjudication: "We therefore believed that, without qualification, listeners were likely to be misled by the claim." Bulldog's adverts now include the phrase "up to" when selling speed.

Bulldog isn't the first ISP to be given a talking to over such claims. Both AOL and Wanadoo have already found themselves on the wrong end of an ASA adjudication.

Three radio listeners also complained about another Bulldog advert which claimed the ISP offered a four megabyte-per-second service for less than £20, rather than the four megabit-per-second service it actually provides. According to Bulldog, it was a genuine mistake and the adverts have been corrected.