Policy paper

Government response to the CMA digital advertising market study

The government’s response to the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) market study into online platforms and digital advertising.

• From: Department for Business and Trade, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport and Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy
• Published: 27 November 2020

This was published under the 2019 to 2022 Johnson Conservative government

Documents

Government response to CMA digital advertising market study [PDF version]

PDF, 440 KB, 13 pages

Government response to CMA digital advertising market study [HTML version]

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Details

On 1 July 2020 the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published the final report of its market study into online platforms and digital advertising

In this response the government responds to the recommendations of the CMA and announces that it will set up a Digital Markets Unit to oversee a pro-competition regime for digital platforms, including those funded by digital advertising. The response commits the government to:

• consider the Digital Markets Taskforce’s advice on the design and implementation of a new pro-competition regime for digital markets, which is due by the end of 2020
• establish and resource a new Digital Markets Unit (DMU) from April 2021, housed in the CMA, to build on the work of the Taskforce and begin to operationalise the key elements of the regime
• consult on proposals for the new pro-competition regime in early 2021
• legislate to put the DMU on a statutory footing when parliamentary time allows

Published 27 November 2020