SOUTH Gloucestershire Council is set to axe adverts on its websites after inadvertently promoting fish and chips on its healthy lifestyles page.
The website also had ads for air travel on its climate emergency page, and luxury ship cruises on a page for housing benefits claimants.
The council has admitted the ads were ‘misleading and inappropriate’.
Officers have recommended scrapping all advertising on the authority’s public-facing websites when it moves to a new content management system (CMS) this year.
A report to the cabinet said: “The content of adverts displayed on our websites is an uncertainty since we do not control exactly what is shown to users (although we do exclude certain categories of adverts).
“Adverts shown might not always accurately support the council’s values.
“For example, adverts have previously appeared that promote air travel on our climate and nature emergency page, fish and chip shops on our healthy lifestyles’ website, and cruises on a page for users claiming Housing Benefit.
“In 2026, our main public websites will move to a new CMS platform. As a result some design changes will be needed.
“Incorporating advertising would significantly limit the flexibility of this design and is expected to negatively impact overall user experience.
“Since most of the advertising is national and multinational companies, the removal of advertising would reduce confusion about whether the advertising links to council services.
“The financial impact is very low.”
Officers included ‘screengrabs’ in the report showing examples of inappropriate adverts on its three websites that carry them – its main site, healthy lifestyle-focused One You South Gloucestershire, and Glos Life, which provides residents with information and advice on council services.
They include an advert for Marella Cruises at the top of the page for people trying to claim housing benefit. A two-week Caribbean cruise by the operator costs up to £8,938 for two people sharing.
A huge advert for fish and chips, as well one for pub lunches, appeared on the home page of One You.
A promotion for air travel featured prominently next to information telling residents what the authority was doing to tackle climate change.
The report said councillors approved advertising on our public-facing websites in 2014, to create a new “revenue stream”, and appointed the Council Advertising Network (CAN) to handle ad sales and provide technology to display them on its websites.
Officers said: “Before the initial contract was signed, the supplier projected estimated income to
the council in the first year would be £27,425 and this would increase in subsequent years.”
They said the actual income for the first year was £4,145.74, rising to a high of £7,245.65 two years later before falling steadily, to £1,788.77 in 2023/24 and £1,301.11 last year.
The report said CAN “admitted to overestimation of income” and clicks had fallen since 2018, a trend accelerated by increasing use of ad-blocking software.
It said: “There are no current arrangements with local businesses to advertise on our website.
“Whilst we can include our own house adverts, for example to promote our resident newsletter and fostering service, these could be promoted through our other existing communication channels such as social media, website homepage promotions, and newsletters.”
By Adam Postans, Local Democracy Reporting Service