Some European policymakers want to ban personalized online advertising as part of the proposed Digital Services Act (DSA) package. Although the DSA would impose additional transparency rules for online advertising, they argue that these do not go far enough, and instead demand an outright ban of personalized online advertising. They are wrong about the risks to consumers: few policymakers understand that most targeted online advertising does not reveal personal data to advertisers. Rather, advertising platforms show ads to people who meet certain criteria. The advertisers almost never know who sees their ads. Moreover, personalized online advertising lowers the effective cost of advertising for businesses while increasing revenues to fund the vast number of free apps and online services used by European businesses and consumers. Unless European policymakers want to reduce ad effectiveness and limit free online apps and services, they should continue to allow firms to use personalized ads.
European Policymakers Should Not Ban Personalized Advertising – Center for Data Innovation
