The EU Raises The Bar On Ad Transparency

The regulatory context

The majority of the provisions of the Digital Services Act (DSA) have applied since 17 February 2024, designed to make online platforms and search engines safer, more transparent and accountable (see our articlehere). While certain duties vary depending on the nature of the service, all platforms share a central duty to prevent the distribution of illegal and harmful content and give users greater control over what they see online.

A core part of this framework is the DSA's transparency requirements, which apply to content curation and online advertising. All in scope services must "guarantee transparency and control" over the content users see on their feed and must allow individuals to "opt-out of personalised recommendations". These obligations extend directly to advertising practices requiring platforms and search engines to clearly label ads and explain why a user is seeing them.