The European Commission has put the tech industry on notice with broad new rules as part of its Digital Market Act, issued today.
What does it mean for brands, tech players and of course consumers?
We asked some of the leading adtech and marketing companies for their reaction to the new EU rules, which will affect monopolistic practices, consumer data rights and the future of how we use digital technology itself…
Suzanna Chaplin, CEO, esbconnect
“The DMA is timely with cookies going, as it only enhances the value of first-party data and brings greater transparency and competition to the industry.
“Brands can access the data they generate in these platforms and link to businesses, platforms and technology outside of a platform, hopefully leaving a wave of innovation.
“The laws also aim to address concerns regarding ad measurement, pricing and reporting – this may result in money moving off the walled gardens to smaller publishers as the true value of different media are revealed.
“However, the laws could also result in a greater loss of targeting signal for advertising due to restrictions on data sharing.
“At first glance, this might seem problematic, but here is the opportunity for brands: invest heavily in first-party data, provide value to your prospects to incentivise them to give you tangible data and you will likely have better and more reliable signals than before.
“2024 should be the year brands are back in control of their advertising and their potential next-best customer.
Maor Sadra, CEO, INCRMNTAL
“Legal obligations are nothing new in the industry. This legislation reminds me of the time when Microsoft, which held a majority stake in the browser market, was forced to present users with a randomly ordered menu of browsers to choose from.
“And now Google, with Chrome, is facing a similar fate as it’s forced to create more space for choice.
“Creating healthier and more balanced competition within the industry is a good thing in theory. But truth be told, brands will invariably migrate to the platforms that provide the most unique value for them.
“Currently, these ‘gatekeepers’ allow the majority of advertisers access to the most relevant audiences at scale, so whether the DMA will have any real impact on the state of the digital marketing industry is debatable.
Piero Pavone, CEO, Preciso
“I’m hoping that the EU’s Digital Markets Act represents a step forward when it comes to enabling competition from European start-ups.
“Placing new responsibilities on Big Tech giants in areas such as data privacy, transparency and interoperability is no bad thing: it’s high time we saw an end to monopolistic behaviours and focused on enabling the democratisation of the open web.
“Our company is on a mission to open the doors to premium advertising for all advertisers and, while change can be painful, evolution is necessary if we are to achieve our dream of a transparent, trusted open web – one in which advertisers can achieve increased efficiencies through disruption, competition, minimisation of budget waste, and further innovation.”
Husna Grimes, VP of Global Privacy, Permutive
“Opening up ad spend is essential for the future of advertising. With five of these big tech corporations, or ‘gatekeepers’, already known to be capitalising on over 50% of current ad spend, it is essential that advertisers can effectively reach their target audiences.
“Consumers are more keen than ever to take control of their data and this is a good step in the right direction, with large companies forced to take accountability for protecting data and allowing audiences to choose for themselves.
“This is something that the industry needs to take seriously and will continue to be a key narrative for years to come.”
“But this is just the start of the process, with potential for legal challenges following this announcement and a six month compliance period. It is therefore important that advertisers look to other solutions to ensure they make the most of their campaigns.
“Brands can no longer commit 90% of their budgets to reaching the 30% of consumers addressable within the open marketplace. Instead they should focus on better techniques to reach the other 70%.
“In particular, advertisers must work directly with publishers to open up audiences, ensuring that transparency and control remains paramount, and accessibility is as high as possible.”
Peter Wallace, General Manager, EMEA, GumGum
“The significance of the DMA changes is huge. Over time, walled gardens have been able to assert their monopolistic dominance and operate in very self-serving ways.
“My hope for these changes is that increased competition will equate to increased innovation across the board, which in turn should be beneficial for consumers.
“The anticipated measures should also lead to more control and protection over user data – a continual shift we’ve seen for years.
“This will further move advertisers towards cookieless solutions such as contextual targeting, which has seen a huge surge in recent years. The end result: a fairer and more equitable digital ecosystem for all.”
Elena Turtureanu, VP, Legal and Privacy Compliance, Adform
“The designation of the gatekeepers does not come to me as a surprise. Why? Firstly, because of how influential and impactful these platforms are for the consumers who access them multiple times a day, every day.
“In the absence of proper regulation, no platform would self-regulate for the sake of fairness. Secondly, the consumers must be given a choice instead of a ‘take it or leave it’, which is right now the situation.
“So, yes, the regulator is enquiring for more transparency and demanding the platforms step down from their ivory tower to true fair practice in the offering of their services and products.
“To be watched in the next 9-12 months is how the brands who advertise heavily on those platforms will behave, as their board of directors will certainly keep an eye on the compliance of those platforms.
“Will the brands want to fall into the consumer’s mistrust due to the lack of/shady compliance of the platforms with the DMA?
“The stakes are high, as brands want to advertise where the eyeballs are. But will it happen at any price? I personally doubt it.”
Dominic Woolfe, UK MD, EXTE
It’s too early to know the full extent of how DMA will affect the digital market as a whole and digital advertising in particular. What’s certain, is that the big tech firms will fight this new law.
“However, our focus is on the bigger picture, and ensuring a more level playing field for independent industry players, for whom the dominance of the walled gardens is not simply a case of competition, but brings into question the future of an open web.
“Society as a whole aspires to better use of customer data and more stringent privacy regulations and this is something that needs to be reflected within the industry through policies like the DMA.
“Whether it will have a noticeable impact on how big tech operates is something to be seen, but it’s certainly a move in the right direction for both the wider marketing industry and consumers.
Anna Forbes, UK Country Manager Azerion
“The act sounds great in principle and will hopefully level the playing field in a very competitive industry.
“However, it will be interesting to see how many of these big players will actually abide by these rules or simply continue as normal and deal with the consequences later.
“Their ability to feather their own nests has given them a somewhat unfair advantage, not to mention the fact that the majority of these companies dominate over half of current ad spend.
“This, coupled with the deprecation of the cookie, means advertisers need to work harder, and smarter, to reach their target audience.
“Now more than ever, a focus on consent and transparency is key to long term and sustainable success in the ever-changing advertising industry.”
Joseph Worswick, VP EMEA & Head of Global Sustainability, OpenX
“Legislation that promotes a fair and transparent value exchange benefits the entire ecosystem. Not only does a healthy open web drive innovation, it empowers marketers to connect with audiences that perform best for their brands at a price that is fair and sustainable for publishers, all while giving consumers access to quality content.”