The European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance (EDAA) released its 2014 Activity Report today that showed Europe made great strides in ensuring consumer awareness and trust in online advertising this past year.
Awareness of YourOnlineChoices.eu and the OBA Icon is spreading. In December of 2014, website traffic reached 5.4 million visitors, more than double the level seen in 2013 and approximately five times more than in 2012.
The report includes findings from the EU Advertising Consumer Research Index 2014 commissioned by the TRUSTe and the EDAA.
Highlights from today’s EDAA Report include:
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- The YourOnlineChoices.eu Consumer Choice Platform is now live in 33 countries and available in 27 languages.
- One in 25 European citizens say they have visited YourOnlineChoices.eu for more information about OBA.
- Comparative data shows awareness of the OBA Icon has doubled in the UK in the last two years (13% to 26%).
- Consistency across European markets has increased: 10 national self-regulatory organisations (SROs) under EASA’s umbrella have developed new remits for OBA based upon “tried and tested” advertising consumer complaints and enforcement mechanisms.
“The EDAA’s 2014 Activity Report shows significant progress on the path towards greater consumer awareness and trust while enabling the delivery of content, services and applications to people right across Europe at little or no cost,” said Nick Stringer, Chair of the EDAA and Director of Regulatory Affairs at the Internet Advertising Bureau UK (IAB, UK).
The pan-European Self-Regulatory Programme gives citizens better transparency and control over Online Behavioral Advertising (OBA) by allowing people to opt-out of ads by clicking on the OBA Icon and is being used across all European markets.
For companies that want to comply and use the EDAA OBA icon, here’s how the process works: First a company needs to apply to the EDAA for a license to use the OBA icon and to integrate with the Consumer Choice Platform on YourOnlineChoices.eu. Companies must then self-certify by presenting evidence to the EDAA that they are compliant with EDAA OBA practices. Within one month of self-certification, companies must get an independent verification of compliance with an EDAA-approved certification provider. This process includes a 30-day period of continuous monitoring of compliance. After this period, compliant companies will be given the EDAA Trust Seal.
TRUSTe is an approved provider of the OBA icon and EDAA Trust Seal. Find out more here. If you have any questions fill out the form here and a TRUSTe privacy expert will follow-up with you.