As an organisation, we're committed to protecting vulnerable audiences. That means engaging with people who may be vulnerable in the right way and recognising that ads seen or heard by these groups may need extra care and consideration.

We want to make sure we're doing everything we can to meet our strategic goal of prioritising the protection of vulnerable audiences. With advertising changing rapidly - particularly online, where personalised and AI-generated ads are becoming more common - it's important to step back and consider what this means for people who might find advertising harder to navigate.

Throughout the year, we've focused on understanding the real experiences of vulnerable people and the risks they face, so we can keep improving how we support and protect them. To do that, we knew we needed to hear directly from the people and organisations who understand these challenges best. In 2025, we set up an internal group to organise and host a series of sessions with guest speakers from vulnerable groups and regulators, who shared their perspectives on advertising.

So far, we've heard from Citizens Advice, StepChange, Beat, The ME Association, NSPCC: The Voices of Online Youth, the Gambling Commission and Samaritans. The sessions covered topics including therapeutic and medicinal claims in ads, insights into the factors that make people vulnerable to harmful ads, and the depiction of suicide in advertising - which prompted updates to our online guidance. We also heard valuable perspectives on how young people experience and engage with online advertising.

These informative and thought-provoking sessions reassured us that we are on the right track, but we'll be using what we've learned to make practical improvements across the organisation.

As we look ahead, protecting vulnerable audiences remains a top priority. We'll continue to draw on the perspectives and experiences of vulnerable groups to make sure our work stays effective as new challenges emerge.

What we've learned over the past year has helped us refine our guidance and reminded us why it's so important to protect people who may be at risk of advertising-related harm.