We’re making online political ads more transparent

After the events of the last week in the US, many people are demanding the “regulation” of social media. But amid that clamour… what is actually to be done? One opportunity (that happens to be the area we work on) is the reform of political ads, specifically finding ways to create a meaningful system of accountability for the people who…

We really need a common standard for ad transparency. So far, the platforms have voluntarily created their own. This is welcome, but they’re all (at least partially) incomplete, formatted differently and offer different mechanisms for access. We think there should be a common standard to facilitate: – Easy discovery – Full transparency – Additional context for users – Interoperability/combination of…

Around many stars there is a so-called “goldilocks zone” where the temperature is just right for a planet to enjoy liquid water, and (perhaps) to support life. We think political advertising on social media also has a goldilocks zone. If you allow too many ads, you give unscrupulous campaigns the ability to microtarget voters, tell them just what they want…

It all comes from above.  During election campaigns, major parties and candidates get the vast majority of coverage. They reinforce this with paid communication – TV and social media ads – and “owned” communication – events, emails, organic social media and more. This combines to motivate the voters they want to get out, and suppress or deter the ones they…