Dear Readers,
Speaking at the 2005 IAB Engage conference in London, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said: “The future of advertising is the internet.”
With the advent of the digital economy, and advertising shifting from newspapers, radio, and television to the internet, we have also seen a shift in the regulatory approach of some governments from a focus on protecting consumers from “false advertising,” to considering online advertising from an antitrust lens.
The market power of online platforms is a hot, highly debated, topic in competition policy of late. Some argue that the debate about market power in online advertising has a lack of precision. Some authors argue that the complex online advertising ecosystem needs to be demystified and some common misconceptions need to be corrected. Others argue that antitrust enforcers, along with pursuing their consumer and competition protection missions, should consider a per se rule against advertising.
We hope this edition of the CPI Chronicle helps further foster this interesting debate.
As always, thank you to our great panel of authors.
Sincerely,
CPI Team
