Understanding the Digital Services Act: resources for IAB UK members

The Digital Services Act regulates the provision of digital services in the EU and applies to online intermediaries and platforms. The stated primary goal of the DSA is to enhance the trust of both individual consumers and business users when utilising online platforms - extending to the products, services, and advertisements people encounter on these platforms. 

What does the DSA mean for the digital ad industry? 

The most important part of the DSA for the digital advertising industry is article 26. This establishes transparency requirements related to advertising; these obligations apply to Online Platforms, including ‘Very Large Online Platforms’ (VLOPs), as defined by the Digital Services Act. 

Online platforms are defined as user-generated content platforms and online marketplaces, such as app stores, social media, and messaging services. ‘Very large’ means having more than 45 million monthly active users in the EU. VLOP status is designated by the European Commission. 

Under Article 26 of the DSA, online platforms are required to provide information to consumers in real-time about the ads being served to them. There is a requirement to include information on whether and why a user was targeted with a particular ad and to set out the main parameters used for targeting, as well as how to change those parameters. 

Additionally, providers of online platforms need to provide users who publish content (e.g. influencers) with the functionality to declare whether their content is or contains commercial communications. 

What is the IAB doing to help the industry comply? 

Since the information required about ads is often held by intermediaries, IAB Europe has been working on a technical solution to help online platforms adhere to transparency obligations under the DSA, which is already in force for VLOPs and comes into effect for other entities on February 17, 2024. This approach aims to make sure that information is available in a standardised manner and is passed on through the chain so platforms can implement the DSA transparency requirements.

In support of IAB Europe’s solution, IAB Tech Lab has made an MVP technical specification available (open for a short public comment period until 14 December 2023). IAB Europe hosted a public Town Hall to provide more detail on the ads transparency solution - you will be able to watch this back on-demand here. 

In addition, IAB Europe hosted two Q&A sessions (open to IAB UK members) in late 2023 and January 2024. 

Update, Thursday 25 January 2024: IAB Europe has now published Implementation Guidelines for the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) Transparency to help online platforms meet the legal requirements for user-facing information disclosures. To facilitate this process, IAB Tech Lab and the IAB Europe Taskforce have standardised data collection, compilation, and transport with new Technical specifications and Implementation guidelines. Read more about the guidance and how it has been developed here.