Data protection in the media industry: more than just a hygiene factor

The data protection experts surveyed almost unanimously reported that their companies regularly receive enquiries from users who want to know more about how user data are handled. This significant increase in awareness of data protection issues as well as the demand from consumers for their data to be handled transparently is generally perceived by employees of the media companies surveyed as a positive development, as well as an opportunity to strengthen the trust of their user base. Depending on the market segment, users even actively seek out types of offerings where their activities are not tracked. This leads to the conclusion that depending on the market segment, openly disclosing a company’s data protection practices and privacy-friendly offerings does more than simply avoid risks but can also be used as a way to improve user loyalty.

The various segments of the advertising market are affected differently by the increasing data protection requirements. For example, the business model of one-to-many media such as out-of-home (OOH) advertising providers is only affected to a limited extent, since they don’t address consumers on an individual basis but at the level of target groups. The individualised targeting of consumers in public spaces using sensor technologies is generally not considered desirable, not least because it risks losing trust among the general population due to fears of surveillance. Companies that offer advertising customers a coordinated approach to consumers on a range of digital and analogue channels (omnichannel) have more of a challenge when it comes to navigating data protection requirements. The same applies to entirely digital advertising market segments such as internet advertising, which tend to focus on individualised ads.

However, companies whose business model depends on displaying individualised adverts can also benefit from potentially positive developments in data protection. The gradual abolition by the major tech companies Google and Meta of third-party cookies, which track the behaviour of users across websites, could mean that the first-party data collected directly by Swiss media companies become more important. In other words this means that, in future, platforms with a lot of traffic and a high percentage of logged-in users could be seen by advertisers as more reliable and effective for reaching their own target groups and their desired reach compared to competing advertising channels and segments. 

Our industry barometer makes it clear that the advertising industry considers itself to be up to the task of reconciling data protection and digital innovation. What measures are Swiss media companies taking in this regard? We will answer this question in the next blog post. Among other things, we will shed light on the extent to which digital technologies are themselves contributing to exploiting the opportunities of digitalisation while at the same time ensuring the protection of data.