Platform ad archives: promises and pitfalls
Abstract
This paper discusses the new phenomenon of platform ad archives. Over the past year, leading social media platforms have installed publicly accessible databases documenting their political advertisements, and several countries have moved to regulate them. If designed and implemented properly, ad archives can correct for structural informational asymmetries in the online advertising industry, and thereby improve accountability through litigation and through publicity. However, present implementations leave much to be desired. We discuss key criticisms, suggest several improvements and identify areas for future research and debate.
Links
Advertising, frontpage, Micro-targeting, Platforms, Politics, Technologie en recht, Transparency
Bibtex
Article{Leerssen2019b,
title = {Platform ad archives: promises and pitfalls},
author = {Leerssen, P. and Ausloos, J. and Zarouali, B. and Helberger, N. and Vreese, C.H. de},
url = {https://policyreview.info/articles/analysis/platform-ad-archives-promises-and-pitfalls},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.14763/2019.4.1421},
year = {1010},
date = {2019-10-10},
journal = {Internet Policy Review},
volume = {8},
number = {4},
pages = {},
abstract = {This paper discusses the new phenomenon of platform ad archives. Over the past year, leading social media platforms have installed publicly accessible databases documenting their political advertisements, and several countries have moved to regulate them. If designed and implemented properly, ad archives can correct for structural informational asymmetries in the online advertising industry, and thereby improve accountability through litigation and through publicity. However, present implementations leave much to be desired. We discuss key criticisms, suggest several improvements and identify areas for future research and debate.},
keywords = {Advertising, frontpage, Micro-targeting, Platforms, Politics, Technologie en recht, Transparency},
}