This month will see the enforcement of a sweeping new set of regulations that could change the face of digital marketing: the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR. To protect consumers’ privacy and give them greater control over how their data is collected and used, GDPR requires marketers to secure explicit permission for data-use activities within the EU. With new and substantial constraints on what had been largely unregulated data-collection practices, marketers will have to find ways to target digital ads, depending less (or not at all) on hoovering up quantities of behavioral data.
How GDPR Will Transform Digital Marketing
Expect increased contextual advertising.
May 21, 2018
Summary.
GDPR will force marketers to relinquish much of their dependence on behavioral data collection. Most critically, it will directly implicate several business practices that are core to current digital ad targeting. What, then, will take the place of behavioral data collection to power ad-targeting? How will digital marketers channel the right marketing messages to the right eyeballs at the right times? For many, the answer will lie in contextual advertising. Its power lies in displaying ads based not on a consumer’s profile, but on the content that he or she is looking at in real time – e.g., a news article, website, news feed, mobile app screen or video game.
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New!
HBR Learning
Marketing Essentials Course
Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning’s online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Marketing Essentials. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.
Learn how to communicate with your customers—strategically.