California

The California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) has introduced new proposed regulations that could make it more difficult—and costly—for small businesses to reach customers through digital advertising and marketing. These rules include requiring additional website pop-ups and opt-out notices, which could drive up technical and financial burdens for small businesses. The result? Fewer opportunities for growth and a competitive disadvantage against larger companies with bigger budgets.

Small businesses are the backbone of California’s economy, but these proposed regulations threaten to make it harder to connect with customers online.

• Increased Costs: Complying with these new rules could cost businesses over $20,000, according to CPPA estimates.
• Customer Frustration: Excessive pop-ups and opt-out windows create a poor user experience, driving potential customers away.
• Uneven Playing Field: Small businesses will face even greater challenges competing with large national brands.

We support protecting consumer privacy, but the proposed regulations on Automated Decision-Making Technology (ADMT) go too far, jeopardizing the ability of small businesses to market effectively, grow, and thrive.

AB 3048 would be a disaster for California small businesses that use digital technology and online platforms to reach customers and grow their companies. The bill requires that Internet browsers display prominent data sharing opt-outs, but the mandate goes way too far. Consumers won’t know what they are opting out of and small businesses that connect with customers online will lose out on vital customer relationships.

Many California businesses use digital ads and marketing to find new customers and drive revenue. Unfortunately, the California legislature is considering a new bill that would make digital advertising and marketing 7.25% more expensive. 

CA Senate Bill 1327 would impose a new tax on digital advertising, intended to target tech giants like Facebook, Google, and Amazon. But the reality is starkly different because it’s the advertisers (businesses of all sizes, including small businesses) that will ultimately bear this financial burden.

The last thing you need is new laws that make it even harder to compete with big brands and their massive marketing budgets. Click here to sign the letter to your lawmakers telling them to oppose Senate Bill 1327!

Overview: Increasingly, we’ve seen states introduce “abuse of dominance” (AOD) legislation that seeks to regulate some of America’s leading digital platforms used by millions of small businesses, including Amazon’s online marketplace, Google’s search and advertising platforms, and app store business, Meta’s Facebook, and Apple’s app stores. While these bills would make it illegal for these platforms, or any platform that meets an arbitrary definition of “dominant,” to engage in any practices that harm competitors, they would also cause a slew of adverse impacts on SMBs. Potential antitrust laws would cost California’s SMBs that create and sell physical goods $81 billion annually, or $162,000 each per year, according to a new study by Dartmouth economics Professor Emeritus John T. Scott.