Digital Markets Act (DMA)

The Digital Markets Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/1925) sets rules for "gatekeepers": large digital platforms that provide what the law calls core platform services, such as search engines, app stores and messaging services. It was adopted on 14 September 2022, entered into force on 1 November 2022 and became applicable on 2 May 2023.

Who it covers. On 6 September 2023 the European Commission designated the first six gatekeepers: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta and Microsoft. Since 7 March 2024 they have had to comply with all of the DMA's obligations.

Why it matters in advertising. The law's list of core platform services includes online advertising services, "including any advertising networks, advertising exchanges and any other advertising intermediation services", when offered by a company that runs another core platform service. Unless the user has been given a specific choice and has consented, a gatekeeper may not process, for its online advertising services, personal data of people using third-party services that rely on its platform, or combine personal data across its services. Advertisers and publishers can ask a gatekeeper for free daily information on the prices, fees and remuneration behind each ad, and for access to its performance-measuring tools and the data needed to verify ad inventory independently.

Penalties and enforcement. Fines can reach 10% of a company's total worldwide annual turnover, or 20% for repeated infringements. The first fines came on 23 April 2025: €500 million for Apple over anti-steering, and €200 million for Meta, which the Commission found had not given users the choice of a service that uses less of their personal data. NPR reported that the Meta case concerned making Facebook and Instagram users choose between personalized ads and paying to avoid them. On 23 July 2026 the Commission fined Google €890 million in two decisions, over self-preferencing in Google Search and anti-steering on Google Play.