The online lives of Slovaks can change fundamentally, the EU wants to introduce a controversial innovation. Experts disagree with her – Startitup

The European Parliament is currently dealing with the very sensitive issue of banning targeted advertising on the Internet. In today’s digital age, targeted advertising has become the main source of revenue for many companies on which to build their business model.

According to experts, the planned measures, which would result in a ban on this advertising in the online space, would mainly affect small and medium-sized enterprises, the media, but in principle also all ordinary Internet users.

A ban on targeted advertising on the Internet would deprive businesses of revenue and deprive European citizens of much of the content and services they benefit from today.

Without a clear alternative, access to a large part of content and services would be prevented, which would significantly limit lower-income households and further restrict access to information, says Michal Kordoš, CEO of SAPIE.

Digital marketer from iFocus.sk – Michal Čuridlo is of the opinion that no one likes advertising and after the change people will hate it. “Banning targeted advertising is nonsense, because those who don’t want to watch ads today can turn them down or just ignore them.”

According to him, such a law will only eliminate the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. “If we show retirees, for example, diapers for children or sneakers for young people, in the advertisement, it will not help either consumers or advertisers. There will only be unnecessary chaos, and small and medium-sized advertisers will pay the most for it. ” said for Startitup.

According to Čuridl, the EU should deal with giants such as Facebook (Meta) and Google. “They dominate and add other services, creating dominance in user behavior data. Even the highest fines so far are the amount of their weekly advertising revenue, not to mention not addressing tax optimization. “

Dávid Krumpár from Lighthouse Media Solutions explained to us that targeted advertising nowadays improves the quality of the user experience and, thanks to advanced algorithms, can largely deliver relevant content to the relevant target group.

He claims to agree to regulation at the level of personal data protection and privacy, but the vast majority of platforms today allow the content to be customized down to the level of a specific user.

“I see the way in improving the transparency of the whole process and other customization options, the general ban on targeted advertising would ultimately limit the delivery of relevant information to the target group and significantly affect the flexibility and efficiency of distributing products, services and information in the digital space.”

The creative director of Melonberries – Pavol Sekelský also thinks that this is not the right solution. “By not being able to target the ad, there will be a huge digital advertising smog, because the ads will randomly appear to the masses as deluded missiles.”

Who would be affected the ban the most?

European Commission recently emphasized, how important is targeted advertising for the entry of small and medium-sized enterprises into the markets and their expansion. Their research shows that up to 68% These businesses state that using targeted advertising is an effective way to reach new customers.

Fewer barriers to market access mean more competition and a more competitive Europe overall. Conversely, restricting online advertising would hit small businesses, startups with small marketing budgets, the hardest. For many of them, it would be practically liquidating. On the contrary, the current situation associated with the COVID-19 pandemic supports and practically forces businesses to digitize.

The introduction of a ban would also mean the end of free access to content platforms (eg Spotify, Youtube) that offer free versions of their services through advertising.

The estimated cost of banning ads could be up to € 106 billion a year, or € 237 for every European citizen. This creates a position in favor of online users who can pay for the platform’s premium services.

As a result, there would no longer be access to unlimited content online. That would be created a disadvantage for people who cannot afford to pay these special premiums. In addition, it would run counter to the EU’s fundamental principles of equality, freedom and democracy.

Targeted advertising is especially useful for regional SMEs, but also for exporters who need to reach customers globally. He informs about itm Slovak Alliance for Innovative Economy.

“European regulators should give priority to combating illegal content and misinformation, and how to intervene in detail and technically in the mechanism of digital advertising. At Sapie, we are ready to support all similar activities, ”added Michal Kardoš.

As emphasized in the European Commission’s statement, new legislation on digital services should guarantee the protection of fundamental rights. “Citizens are playing an increasingly important role in political life thanks to online tools and services, so when creating regulations affecting online services, we should pay attention to e.g. fundamental rights of access to information and freedom of expression online, ” it is written in the document.

Sources: europa.eu, SAPIE