We develop an approach to observe the algorithmically-tuned nature of digital advertising by creating visualisations of ad sequences from a citizen scientist data-donation project.
News and Research articles on Advertising
This paper investigates whether it is possible for external publics to detect algorithmic targeting in political advertisements, using the tools provided by the Facebook Ad Library.
The Regulation on Political Advertising (RPA) represents the EU’s most significant effort to address concerns about political advertising’s democratic impact, but does it live up to the Commission’s hype?
How can we monitor political ads circulating on social media in the run-up to an election? This essay learns from the project "Analysis of Political Ads in Digital Campaigns”, combining scraping methods and public opinion research to investigate how online advertising shape political preferences in the Dutch general elections (15-17 March 2021). It further reflects on the challenges of studying the impact of political micro-targeting.
With online platforms in the sights of policymakers and regulators, we examine their power in the integrated platform ecosystem for video advertising.
Will the same cross-device technologies that track our journeys through the commercial marketplace now follow us into the polling booth?
Ad archives are a novel tool in online advertising governance. They promise significant benefits, but only if their operators address key criticisms.
This paper compares two controversies in social media governance and argues that social media companies’ actions indicate an expanded role for marketing and advertising as arbiters of the public interest in media content delivery.
What if presidents and policies could be bought and sold online? Social media and advertising technology are making that a reality.