Action needed to tackle "murky world" of digital advertising: report

LONDON, April 11 (Xinhua) -- A committee of politicians from Britain's House of Lords described in a report Wednesday how the lucrative world of digital advertising has become "notoriously murky".

In its report, "UK advertising in a digital age", the House of Lords' Communications Committee said even people working within the industry do not understand how some of its business models work, making the digital advertising industry dysfunctional and opaque.

"There has been an explosion of businesses using technologies which make money from delivering advertising online, which often rely on processing personal data of consumers," said the report.

Britain's globally renowned advertising industry is worth more than 170 billion U.S. dollars a year and supports more than a million jobs, but the industry is in a state of flux, says the report.

The committee has called on the industry to self-regulate through independent bodies, and wants the British government to review whether current competition laws are appropriate for the 21st century.

Lord Gilbert, who chairs the committee, said: "The industry is facing immense changes which threaten to undermine its success. Digital advertising has quickly become the most significant form of advertising by spending. But the market for delivering digital advertising to consumers is notoriously 'murky'."

Gilbert said businesses which buy advertising services don't know how their money is being spent, whether their advertising is being displayed next to content which is obscene or which supports terrorism, or whether their ads are being viewed by a human being at all.

He added: "The consumer's experience is also poor as they may be bombarded with clickbait, or their personal data may be exploited without their knowledge. To restore the public's trust in advertising as a whole, the industry must commit to adhering to proper standards."

Gilbert said the committee also wants the government to develop an immigration policy that works for advertising businesses when Britain leaves the European Union next year. Enditem