详情描述

1． Online platforms play an increasingly prominent role in people's lives。Adult
internet users in the UK spend over 3 hours a day accessing the internet, withmore than a third of this time spent on sites owned by Google or Facebook。1The services provided by online platforms - such as internet search andsocial media - have created significant benefits, and in many ways havechanged our lives for the better。

2．However, online platforms have also been subject of increasing scrutiny andpublic debate。Recent studies of digital markets in the UK,2 US,3 Europe4 andelsewhere have raised concerns about the market power of the large platforms and whether this might be harming competition and consumers,particularly by creating barriers to new entrants。

3． Although online platforms often provide services to users for 'free' , in practice consumers are paying through the attention and data that they provide to theplatforms, which the platforms monetise by selling digital advertising。 Asonline platforms have grown, so has the revenue from digital advertising。Digital advertising to UK consumers has experienced rapid growth during thepast decade, to a point where it currently comprises over 50% of UK advertising expenditure and is forecast to continue to grow strongly in thefuture。

4． Two suppliers in particular, Google and Facebook(and their respectivesubsidiaries, such as YouTube and Instagram) hold leading positions in themarket for online advertising in the UK, with the majority of digital advertisingrevenue in the UK split between these two businesses。 In turn, digital advertising comprises the substantial majority of the revenues of both of thesecompanies。 

5．There are three main types of digital advertising in the UK: search, displayand classified advertising。 Search advertising is where adverts appear besidesearch enaine results (such as on Gooale or Bina)。 triaaered bv kevwords in the search terms used。Google has a strong position in search advertising。7 Display advertising is where marketing messages are displayed (as text,banners or video) on websites, social media pages or apps。 Facebook holds astrong position in social display advertising。8 Classified advertising is whereadvertisers pay for listings on websites or apps such as real estate portals。While the scope of this study encompasses all three forms of digital advertising, we expect our main focus to be on search and display advertisingwhich make up by far the largest proportion of UK advertising expenditure。

6．Despite the valuable services provided by the online platforms that are fundedby digital advertising, we have heard a number of concerns that the sector isnot working well。These concerns relate to the market power of the mainplatforms in consumer-facing markets, the lack of consumer control over theuse of their data and the ways in which this is monetised by the platforms。

7．We have decided to launch a market study to examine these concerns and toconsider potential remedies should these concerns be substantiated。This ispart of the CMA's broader Digital Markets Strategy, published alongside thisdocument, which sets out our approach to protecting consumers in the digitaleconomy while ensuring robust competitive digital markets。

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