Purplebricks has ‘erred on the side of caution’ and has changed its advert on Rightmove following the Advertising Standards Authority ruling that it must show that a fee is payable whether or not a property sells.

The ruling came after a complaint about the Purplebricks TV ‘commisery’ advertising campaign.

Those TV adverts had already been amended by the time the ruling was published, but the advert below could still be seen on Rightmove.

Rightmove would not comment to EYE, only referring us to Purplebricks itself.

There was then an unusual exchange on Twitter in which the ASA itself suggested it could take an interest.

EYE reader Malcolm Barnard started the discussion by asking Rightmove if it would seek changes to the Purplebricks advert.

Aspiring trade body CIELA – which had made the complaint which was upheld – said the Rightmove advert was not explicitly included in the ASA ruling, and that Rightmove “will have no grounds to demand changes”.

Barnard said that both publishers and advertisers have to follow the advertising code.

The ASA itself then jumped in, saying: “Our upheld rulings apply more widely than to the particular advertiser we investigated. And publishers have to follow our rulings too. Do you want to send us the details so we can assess if the findings of our previous ruling apply here?”

Barnard put up the advert on Twitter, to which the ASA responded by saying: “Thanks Malcolm. We’ll take a look.”

On Friday, a spokesperson for Purplebricks told EYE: “We have erred on the side of caution and proactively made the change to the adverts on Rightmove.”