Online platforms and digital advertising market study launched

First published by Author on July 18, 2019 in the following categories: Advertising Investigations and tagged with advertising | cma | competition law | market study

This month, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has confirmed that a market study has been launched into online platforms and digital advertising.

The CMA has cited their duty to protect consumers in what is a huge and growing digital economy. They want to ensure there’s healthy competition, and ensure that big players in the market are not abusing their powers for their own advantage.

Invitations for comment have been issued with a deadline for responses set for the end of this month.

About the online platforms and digital advertising study

The online platforms and digital advertising market study is set to be broad, with a final deadline for a report to be published set for this time next year.

The CMA has confirmed that they’re looking into the following:

• The power online platforms may have in user-facing markets, and the impact this may have on the consumer;
• The control (or lack of control) consumers have over data that’s collected and used for online platforms and digital advertising;
• Whether competition may be distorted by market power held by platforms.

You can view the full CMA announcement and their statement of scope on their website here.

The importance of the study

The online platforms and digital advertising market study is incredibly important.

Although the issue of how data is collected and used is of course incredibly important in today’s GDPR age, the power companies have and whether competition can be distorted is the important competition factor to assess.

The CMA has confirmed that some of the concerns raised with them includes a lack of transparency in terms of how the market operates. Are big companies abusing their power because of how much ground they can cover in what is a global and humongous worldwide online platform?

As the study has only just been launched, no assumptions are being made as of yet.

Another one to keep an eye on

This market study is another one for us to keep a very close eye on given the scope and breadth of the sector.

Online advertising can be so powerful, and it’s therefore important for competition to be closely monitored to ensure that the consumers are not being taken advantage of.