Ad description
A paid-for Google ad and a landing page on the website www.gb.zouhyitao.com, an online retailer of portable internet devices, seen on 15 July 2026:
a. The paid-for Google ad stated “36 pounds for free lifetime internet. Pay 36 pounds once for unlimited lifetime wifi no contracts no credit checks ever”. The ad included an image with text that stated “NO MONTHLY FEES NO CONTRACTS NO HIDDEN COSTS BUY ONCE, USE THE INTERNET FOR LIFE” and “Save £780+/year vs. traditional broadband plans”. It included images of a device and the claims “£0 MONTHLY FEE”, “LIFETIME FREE” and “£0/month PRODUCT”.
b. The landing page featured repeated images of a white handheld device alongside graphics of satellites, the globe, Wi-Fi signals and mobile devices. Accompanying text included “GLOBAL COVERAGE LIFETIME FREE NO MONTHLY FEES BUY ONCE, USE FOREVER” and “500Mbps 5G SATELLITE WIFI ANYWHERE ON EARTH”. It also stated “ONE-TIME PAYMENT WITH NO MONTHLY FEES” and “Pay once and use forever. Just buy the router and have unlimited access via satellite with Internet anywhere in the world!”.
Issue
The ASA challenged whether the claims in ads (a) and (b) that consumers could make a one-off payment for the device and receive free or unlimited internet access for life, with no monthly fees or other ongoing costs, were misleading and could be substantiated.
Response
Xun Meng International Ltd t/a Zouhyitao did not respond to the ASA's enquiries.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA was concerned by Xun Meng International Ltd t/a Zouhyitao’s lack of response and apparent disregard for the Code, which was a breach of CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 1.7 (Unreasonable delay). We reminded them of their responsibility to respond promptly to our enquiries and told them to do so in future.
Ad (a) included the claims “Pay 36 pounds once for unlimited lifetime wifi”, “NO MONTHLY FEES”, “LIFETIME FREE” and “BUY ONCE, USE THE INTERNET FOR LIFE”. Ad (b) similarly stated “LIFETIME FREE”, “NO MONTHLY FEES”, “BUY ONCE, USE FOREVER” and “Pay once and use forever”. We considered that consumers would understand those claims to mean that, after making a one-off payment for the device, they would receive unlimited internet access indefinitely, without paying a subscription charge or any other additional costs.
We further considered that consumers would understand the claims “GLOBAL COVERAGE”, “500Mbps 5G SATELLITE WIFI ANYWHERE ON EARTH” and “unlimited access via satellite with Internet anywhere in the world” in ad (b) to mean that the device would provide internet access using 5G and satellite technology, with speeds of up to 500 Mbps.
We had not seen any evidence regarding the performance of the product to support the claims that the device could provide unlimited internet access for its lifetime without additional costs or restrictions, or that it could provide the advertised speeds and global coverage. We further understood that it was highly unlikely that a device could provide such a service without a subscription or other ongoing service arrangement. In the absence of adequate substantiation, we therefore concluded that the claims in ads (a) and (b) had not been substantiated and that the ads were misleading.
The ads breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 (Misleading advertising), 3.7 (Substantiation) and 3.11 (Exaggeration).
Action
The ads must not appear again in the form complained of. We told Xun Meng International Ltd t/a Zouhyitao not to mislead consumers by exaggerating the capabilities of the product. Specifically, we told them not to make claims that consumers could make a one-off payment for the device and receive free or unlimited internet access for life, without monthly fees or other ongoing costs, unless they held adequate evidence to substantiate those claims. We referred the matter to CAP’s Compliance team.
