Germany: Ruling on the qualification of Instagram tap tags as advertisements

A judgement concerning the regulation of Instagram "tap tags" as advertisement has been published by the German Federal Court (BGH). The lawsuit, filed by the "Association of Social Competition" against various Instagram influencers, accused that the use of "tap tags", namely the marking of product manufacturers in pictures by influencers, has to be considered as advertising. The BGH's decision states that the posts must be marked as advertising when they convey an exaggerated impression of such a purpose. Therefore, a general rule on tap tags cannot be found, and the assessment must be conducted on a case-by-case basis.