The DSA is one of the broadest-ranging EU policy interventions, as a large majority of EU citizens and firms increasingly use various services involving online platforms. The DSA aims to ensure “a safe and accountable online environment”, incl. ensuring that consumers can understand how their data is being used online, inter alia by introducing transparency obligations in relation to digital advertising (e.g. forcing publication of “main parameters” used to personalise ads and the scale of advertising campaigns). Wider policy conversations on personalised ads focus on the key policy concern as to the privacy treatment of consumers’ individual data.
A directly related, yet perhaps under-studied question, is that of the broader economic impacts on EU businesses which benefit from personalised online advertising. It is thus relevant to consider to what extent undue regulation would harm different types of EU beneficiaries of personalised ads, e.g.:
In this study, we explore the potential risks associated with constraining the ability or incentive of EU firms to use personalised advertising. Our initial analysis of this novel research question finds that a reduction in the use of personalised advertising would drastically change the way the in-ternet works today (for publishers, consumers and advertisers) and would have far-reaching impacts across the EU economy (on all markets served by firms that buy personalised ads to most efficiently reach their target audience).
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