Brussels (25 October 2024): The European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance (EDAA) held its annual EDAA Summit on 16 October, under the banner: “Leading the Change: From Regulation to Action”. No framing could feel more apt to the task at hand, as industry players grapple with new regulations whilst building consumer trust and confidence, in the same year that the world has taken to the polls on an unprecedented scale – in short, a change of era, when actions speak far louder than words.
The event successfully brought together leaders from across the digital advertising ecosystem (including advertisers, agencies, ad technology providers and media) along with numerous regulators including the CnaM (Irish Digital Services Coordinator), the ICO (UK Information Commissioner’s Office), and the Garante (Italian Data Protection Authority), to engage in meaningful dialogue. Notably, the 2024 EDAA Summit explored the intersection of marketplace innovation amidst tightening industry frameworks and standards and regulatory scrutiny, with a focus on outcomes and actions that help to realise an ever more responsible and sustainable growth for the European advertising industry.
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Summit Highlights 💡
The Summit opened with a powerful keynote, “Putting Ads on Notice: Regulatory Priorities and the Digital Services Act” by Wayne Moroney, Director of Platform Supervision, at the CnaM (Irish Digital Services Coordinator). Wayne underscored the role and impact of the DSA upon Europe’s digital advertising landscape, which requires greater transparency over online ads served to end users.
The session emphasised the need for industry alignment with Article 26 regarding advertising transparency, with a clear message: this Article is a clear and imminent priority for the CnaM and industry players must deliver by demonstrating compliance, preferably in harmonised and meaningful ways with the end-user experience in mind.
In the following interactive session, “The Advanced Advertising Transparency Programme (AATP)”, the audience got to hear all about the lastest initiative from the EDAA, which enables companies – both Online Platforms, and broader ad technology providers – to align with the ad transparency provisions of the DSA in a consistent manner.
The session explored the accountability framework behind the initiative, through the role of independent certification coupled with the awareness-raising and enforcement activities of the European Advertising Standards Alliance and the network of European advertising Self-Regulatory Organisations.
Online Platforms, DSPs, and key industry trade associations then took to the stage to discuss their implementations, emphasising how consistency in approach can be achieved through the adoption of the EDAA’s AdChoices Icon and by utilising the IAB Tech Lab’s DSA Transparency Extension.
Again the message was clear and peer focused – lead by example, be proud of the strong mechanisms put into place, play by a common rulebook, adopt these centralised approaches, and demonstrate your responsibility and compliance. Don’t be caught out; don’t be found wanting.
After networking, Stephen Almond, Executive Director of Regulatory Risk at the ICO gave his thoughts on “Privacy and Competition: How Do We Align”, exploring how data privacy can be balanced with competitive innovation and detailing the many priorities for the ICO when it comes to the online advertising sphere.
The keynote reinforced that privacy and competition can and should be complementary, that the law is there to be adhered to, and that user data must be treated not just legally but with utmost care in a vibrant and trusted digital marketplace.
A compelling session followed on “Political Advertising: A World at the Polls” with Guido Scorza of the Garante alongside Matúš Huba of McDermott, Will & Emery, focusing on the responsibilities of political advertisers. The session connected the dots between the DSA, Political Advertising and other key regulations, with a strong emphasis on transparency and integrity, reflecting the role of advertising and of platforms in preserving fair, privacy-respecting democratic processes.
Closing out these huge topics by commenting on the new political climates across Europe, the UK, and North America, a mix of academics, lobbyists and industry practitioners helped to frame the likely impact of new institutions and their mandates on the international digital advertising ecosystem. The panelists shared fascinating insights, with a delightful mix of certainty, probability and conjecture!
After more networking, the Summit went on tackle the future of purpose, education and innovation in the field of marketing communications.
First off, criss-crossing issues of sustainability, brand safety and data ethics (not to mention many more!) and showing how they interweave and correlate, was no easy task for our panelists tackling perhaps the broadest of sessions in: “The Future of Marketing: Balancing Profit, Purpose and Ethics”. The wealth of experience and insight on show was always bound to be impactful and it certainly didn’t disappoint – a session not shy on controversy and diverse opinions, demonstrated just how deep certain challenges go and the profound complexities at play towards solving them.
Next in line was an opportunity to check the state of consumer education, a core pillar of EDAA’s work, and one our organisation truly takes to heart. By showcasing clear examples of education in action, and relating the scope and needs of educational efforts through to evidence-based research (including a look-back at EDAA’s own YourOnlineVoices consumer participation findings), the panelists dissected what works from what doesn’t, and crucially, how to reach new generations of internet users who demonstrate very different ways of interacting with the subject matter.
@mediasmartuk Adverts creators & YOU! A new educational resource by @tiktokforbusinesseu & Media Smart! Featuring @akafiali @itslilyrose@iammistermba@_mollymarsh_ ♬ original sound - MediaSmartUk
A key discussion at the Summit then centered around Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs), with a presentation by Google on their latest thinking through the use of Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs).
These TEEs enable secure, privacy-first data processing that aims to facilitate privacy-respectful advertising supporting personalised content without exposing user information. The ensuing open discussion around PETs demonstrated how privacy-preserving solutions are becoming an increasingly integral path towards driving marketplace innovation.
After even more networking (yes, we take networking very seriously!!), our Summit delved into the last two topics of the day.
The first of these: AI. No commentary on digital advertising today would be complete without a deepdive into the role of AI – and a unique take and contribution to the wider AI debates coming from our event was in deciphering how AI can in fact be used to help boost transparency and ultimately consumer trust in advertising.
We heard many great insights and plentiful thought leadership on if/how the use of AI in advertising ought to be labelled or otherwise indicated to users, but also how AI systems are being set up to support advertising standards bodies in monitoring the huge numbers of digital ads delivered on an ongoing basis, elevating the active monitoring of compliance with industry standards to an entirely new level.
Last, but far from least, the Summit welcomed representatives from advertising self-regulatory initiatives across the globe (DAA, DAA-AME), with a particular emphasis on develoments in the US and India, amongst other countries. The speakers, representing an increasingly global network of DAA programmes, expertly assessed the varying market dynamics and challenges in different global regions and the role of regulations and industry standards within them.
It was great to hear how the DAA networks – despite many differences across the jurisdictions in which they operate – continue to work closely together to frame meaningful responses for businesses not just in their respective markets but also when operating on an international or even global scale. The importance of common reference points – like the AdChoices Icon – yet with adaptations to serve different needs whilst maintaining clarity to today’s ‘global consumer’, were discussed at length, in tandem with the evolving respective landscapes and opportunities to collectively serve participating companies and consumers going forward.
Charting the Way Forward: Responsible Advertising Through Collaboration 🧭
Ultimately, the EDAA Summit emphasised the importance of meaningful, cross-industry collaboration, and a consumer-first approach, as the foundations for responsible advertising practices. Thanks to the DAA network — including the EDAA in Europe — helping to align stakeholders on shared standards and transparent practices, the digital advertising industry remains well positioned today to respond effectively to innumerable regulatory and marketplace demands, fostering a sustainable advertising ecosystem.
As such demands are becoming increasingly complex in and of themselves, yet also across borders, the 2024 EDAA Summit highlighted that these challenges bring unique opportunities to innovate responsibly. As the industry rises to meet new standards, the focus remains on achieving a balanced approach that champions both user trust and advertising efficacy.
Thank you once more to all of our speakers, sponsors and attendees for making the 2024 EDAA Summit another success story! 💙
For more insights from the 2024 Summit, please visit https://edaasummit.eu/.
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