The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has forced tech giant Meta to stop exploiting its advertising customers’ data, as this risked giving it an unfair competitive advantage.
Competitors of Facebook Marketplace who also use parent company Meta’s advertising platforms will now be able to opt out of certain parts of their ad data being used by Meta to improve its own Marketplace.
The regulator’s actions were also prompted by a desire to protect business and customer data, and will now curb Meta’s ability to harvest customer data without explicit prior consent.
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These measures are the result of a long-running investigation first launched by the CMA in June 2021 resulting from concerns over data abuses and competition. Meta is by far the largest supplier of digital display advertising in the UK, earning £4-5 billion in 2021 alone.
The US firm currently boasts over 10 million advertisers, the vast majority of which are SMEs. The CMA had grown concerned that by harnessing its substantial client data, Meta had been improving its own product targeting by exploiting the data of those businesses’ customers – in turn hijacking their user journey with advertising for its own services.
A monitoring trustee will now be appointed by the CMA to provide reports on Meta’s compliance and any failures. Their remit will also include oversight for the implementation of new technical systems and employee training.
