Online Advertising

In today’s highly competitive business environment, inexpensive digital advertising can be the difference between a small business that thrives and one that falters. Recent 3C research documents how digital ads help level the playing field and empower small business advertisers to compete with the biggest brands with billion-dollar marketing budgets by providing affordable, highly effective ways to reach target audiences, drive sales, and instantly understand the ROI with free high-quality analytics.

However, some policymakers believe that the current online advertising market is broken and needs new laws to fix it. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced the AMERICA Act (S. 1060), a bill that would forcibly break up the current digital advertising ecosystem that works so well for small businesses. The proponents of this legislation do not understand that this system creates incredible efficiency that connects advertisers and publishers, saving both time and money. 

If there were four or five different ad platforms, small businesses would have to work with more vendors, which would be inefficient and time-consuming. Without the efficiencies of a single platform, small publishers would have to go back to dialing for dollars and calling hundreds of advertisers to try and sell ad space on their website or app. 

As policymakers consider new laws and regulations to change how the digital ads marketplace works, they must realize the value digital advertising provides small businesses. Policymakers must take a balanced approach to data privacy that protects consumers’ sensitive information while considering the value data plays in the small business advertising ecosystem.