Who: Interactive Advertising Bureau Europe (IAB Europe)
Where: European Union (EU), Belgium
When: 26 June 2024
Law stated as at: 3 July 2024
What happened:
IAB Europe, one of the leading European industry associations for digital advertising and marketing, has published a paper outlining its key commitments and guiding policy principles for policymakers and regulators ahead of the 2024-2029 EU legislative term.
Digital ad-related commitments
IAB Europe makes the following digital advertising-related commitments for the new legislative term:
- Developing responsible advertising practices consistent with EU consumer protection, online safety and privacy standards, by continuing to develop industry initiatives (such as guidance and codes of practice) to help ensure that ads are appropriate, trustworthy and transparent.
- Respecting user privacy online, by working to ensure that users have access to effective tools and information to exercise their privacy rights online and businesses have access to stable and consistent regulatory guidance to support investment in privacy innovations.
- Protecting European creators, by combating intellectual property (IP) infringement online including via the IAB’s commitments to the European Commission memorandum of understanding on online advertising and IP rights.
- Countering online disinformation, by promoting trusted information, demonetising false content and aligning with the EU Code of Practice on Disinformation.
Guiding principles
The paper also sets out IAB Europe’s nine policy principles for an “inclusive, safe and innovative digital Europe“. IAB Europe calls on policymakers and regulators to:
- Recognise the value in consumer benefits from advertising, such as supporting choice and empowerment (for example, by allowing consumers to discover a wide choice of products and services at competitive prices) and recognise the role that advertising plays in promoting economic growth and recovery.
- Promote choice and diversity in digital advertising services, increase trust and confidence and advocate for stable and predictable regulation. IAB Europe considers that policymakers and regulators should focus on the effective implementation of existing rules for digital advertising (including the Digital Services Act, regulation on the transparency and targeting of political advertising, and the Digital Markets Act) before thinking about developing new policy.
- Innovate in privacy protection by aiding the development of novel solutions and data protection by design principles in the advertising supply chain.
- Coordinate on ad-related policies and initiatives and engage with all “ecosystem players”, noting that there are a number of policy areas relevant to the advertising supply chain (including consumer protection, data protection, online safety and online competition regulation), by taking a holistic approach and ensuring that policy areas are well co-ordinated and implemented harmoniously.
Why this matters
IAB Europe’s paper clearly underscores its commitment to a future in which digital advertising is practiced responsibly and suggests that the IAB will continue working to develop practical guidance and codes of practice to help businesses comply with their advertising law related requirements under EU law, with a focus on privacy, IP infringement and disinformation-related obligations.
The paper also highlights the role that advertising plays in the development of Europe’s digital economy. The IAB encourages policymakers and regulators to focus efforts on the effective implementation of existing rules for digital advertising rather than developing new policies.
