Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s publication entitled Government response to Online Advertising Programme consultation, updated on 25 July 2023, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the evidence base for the (a) origin and (b) location of in-scope online advertising; and how that evidence will inform future policy decisions.

As set out in the Government’s response to the 2022 Online Advertising Programme consultation, the configuration of the market at present can mean that accessing comprehensive data on harms associated with online advertising can be challenging. We have already commissioned external research papers, conducted a call for evidence, and completed a public consultation, to seek to address this.

The Online Advertising Taskforce was established to encourage actors across the advertising industry to improve standards and build the evidence base on advertising harms and how they enter the supply chain, in advance of future legislation. As part of this work, DCMS is undertaking research on online users’ experiences of advertising harms. The Taskforce will publish a progress report on its work in the autumn.

The publication in due course of the second consultation on the Online Advertising Programme will also provide an opportunity for respondents to contribute additional evidence.