Resource Center / Tools and Trackers / AdTech 2024: A Look Back
AdTech 2024: A Look Back
This resource traces how adtech law, policy, litigation and enforcement have grown and evolved in 2024.
Last updated: January 2025
Contributors:
A few themes dominated the advertising technology discussion in 2024: the future of cookies, the viability of Meta's proposed pay-or-consent model, the crossover between privacy and antitrust, the children's privacy debate, privacy lawsuits with adtech implications, tech and policy developments, and civil society initiatives.
This resource follows how adtech law, policy, litigation and enforcement played out in 2024, within the context of a dynamic regulatory and industry landscape for adtech. The 2023 edition of this resource can be viewed here.
The IAPP published this article providing further insights on adtech developments in 2024, and additionally hosts an hosts an Adtech topic page, which regularly updates with the latest adtech news and resources.
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Additional adtech resources
- Meta’s new digs: A deep dive into practical considerations of consent
- The half-baked future of cookies and other tracking technologies
- Legal basis and consequences for personalized advertising
- Data clean rooms: An adtech privacy solution?
- In an AI-powered world, marketers need a new data strategy
- Empowering users: A universal interface for digital ad preferences
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Previous editions of AdTech: A Look Back
Directory
AdTech 2024: A Look Back
This section provides a directory of this resource, sorted by category. This resource is also available as an infographic in PDF format here.
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● Regulatory
January
● REGULATORY
France's data protection authority, the Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés, fined Yahoo EMEA 10 million euros for alleged violations of the ePrivacy Directive, after it found visitors to the site had cookies placed on their computers without their consent.
● REGULATORY
Spain's data protection authority, the Agencia Española de Protección de Datos, released its newest guidelines for how to treat analytics and cookies.
February
● REGULATORY
Bavaria's State Office for Data Protection Supervision reported about one-third of the 1,000 websites it examined had cookie banners that did not meet legal standards.
● REGULATORY
The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority ordered Google to pause its efforts to eliminate third-party cookies until multiple competition-related concerns are addressed.
March
● REGULATORY
The U.K. Information Commissioner's Office opened a call for views from businesses and digital advertising stakeholders on how pay-or-consent subscription models can achieve third-party cookie compliance.
April
● REGULATORY
The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority published its 2024 first quarter report on Google's efforts to implement the Privacy Sandbox. The report stated Google met all commitments made to the CMA, although further progress was needed to resolve its competition concerns.
May
● REGULATORY
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit dismissed a class-action lawsuit against Amazon, which claimed its Alexa served targeted ads to users based on their voices.
June
● REGULATORY
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission finalized its order preventing the antivirus company Avast from selling or licensing web browsing data for advertising purposes. The company was fined USD16.5 million over misleading claims that it blocked third-party tracking.
July
● REGULATORY
A report by Denmark's Agency for Digitalisation, the Digitaliseringsstyrelsen, revealed 42.2% of websites use unclassified cookies.
● REGULATORY
The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority accepted Meta's proposals for handling advertisers' data. Meta previously committed to limiting use of customers' data to prevent it from securing an "unfair advantage."
August
● REGULATORY
Belgium's Data Protection Authority issued a preliminary sanction against Dutch media company Mediahuis for alleged unlawful cookie banners and deceptive design patterns.
● REGULATORY
Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., vetoed a bill that would have required web browsers to have an opt-out mechanism for online behavioral advertising, following industry group advocacy.
September
● REGULATORY
Belgium's Data Protection Authority issued a preliminary sanction against Dutch media company Mediahuis for alleged unlawful cookie banners and deceptive design patterns.
● REGULATORY
Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., vetoed a bill that would have required web browsers to have an opt-out mechanism for online behavioral advertising, following industry group advocacy.
October
● REGULATORY
The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled in favor of NOYB Chairman Max Schrems in his civil complaint against Meta, finding the company violated the EU GDPR's data minimization principle when it processed statements regarding sexual orientation without consent for targeted advertising purposes, even if such statements had been made public.
● REGULATORY
Ireland's Data Protection Commission fined LinkedIn 310 million euros for allegedly conducting behavioral analysis and targeted advertising in violation of the U.K. GDPR.
November
● REGULATORY
South Korea's Personal Information Protection Commission issued Meta a KRW21.6232 billion fine, claiming it had violated the Personal Information Protection Act by collecting Facebook users' sensitive personal information for ad-targeting purposes.
● REGULATORY
The European Commission fined Meta 798 million euros for embedding Facebook Marketplace within its social network, causing alternative classified ads services to face "unfair trading conditions."
● REGULATORY
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner issued private sector guidance for deploying tracking pixels on websites.
December
● REGULATORY
The European Commission issued a request for information to Google following a report by the Financial Times of a "secret" advertising partnership with Meta that allegedly violated Google's policies for online advertisements targeted at minors. The Commission reportedly asked lawyers at Google parent company Alphabet to "review and collate data, presentations, internal chats and emails related to the ad campaigns" that served teens personalized ads for Instagram on YouTube.
● REGULATORY
South Africa's Information Regulator published guidance assisting responsible parties with compliance to provisions of the Protection of Personal Information Act of 2013 when processing personal data. The guidance applies to entities engaging in direct marketing through unsolicited electronic and nonelectronic communications.
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● Industry
January
● INDUSTRY
Privacy advocacy group NOYB asked Austria's Data Protection Authority to investigate Meta's free product option, claiming it is too difficult to withdraw consent unless a user wants the paid subscription service.
February
● INDUSTRY
IAB Tech Lab published a report analyzing potential challenges faced by the advertising industry in adopting Google's Privacy Sandbox. Google responded, noting advertisers' concerns with the initiative.
March
● INDUSTRY
Microsoft announced it will incorporate the Google Privacy Sandbox application programming interface within its advertising products.
April
● INDUSTRY
Google pledged to destroy data collected from the incognito Chrome browsing option as part of its settlement of a 2020 privacy class-action lawsuit.
● INDUSTRY
A study found the majority of Australians prefer privacy over targeted advertising.
May
● INDUSTRY
Apple announced Web Eraser, an AI-based privacy feature that aims to allow users to block ads and other parts of websites they do not wish to view.
June
● INDUSTRY
LinkedIn removed its targeted advertising tool to comply with the EU Digital Services Act provisions prohibiting companies from using sensitive personal data for advertising purposes.
July
● INDUSTRY
Advertising technology companies continued to raise concerns that Google's Privacy Sandbox remains unprepared for launch.
● INDUSTRY
TikTok revised its advertising standards to limit the ability of advertisers to target users ages 13-17.
August
● INDUSTRY
NOYB filed a lawsuit against Hamburg's Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information over a ruling that allowed pay-or-consent cookie banners on a magazine's website.
October
● INDUSTRY
Google announced the implementation of an advertising data retention policy that limits access to data after 11 years, including information stored in Google's advertising services.
November
● INDUSTRY
Meta announced plans to roll out an alternative targeted advertising model for EU Facebook and Instagram users that does not require payment and will serve "less personalized ads."
December
● INDUSTRY
Meta announced plans to restrict advertisers' access to certain categories of user data on its platforms. The plans will limit their access to data by topic, which will include health and wellness, financial services, and politics. The move could limit advertisers' ability to target Meta users based on their online activity.
AdTech 2024: A Look Back
This section provides a timeline of this resource, sorted by month. This resource is also available as an infographic in PDF format here.
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expand_more
January
● REGULATORY
France's data protection authority, the Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés, fined Yahoo EMEA 10 million euros for alleged violations of the ePrivacy Directive, after it found visitors to the site had cookies placed on their computers without their consent.
● REGULATORY
Spain's data protection authority, the Agencia Española de Protección de Datos, released its newest guidelines for how to treat analytics and cookies.
● INDUSTRY
Privacy advocacy group NOYB asked Austria's Data Protection Authority to investigate Meta's free product option, claiming it is too difficult to withdraw consent unless a user wants the paid subscription service.
-
expand_more
February
● REGULATORY
Bavaria's State Office for Data Protection Supervision reported about one-third of the 1,000 websites it examined had cookie banners that did not meet legal standards.
● REGULATORY
The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority ordered Google to pause its efforts to eliminate third-party cookies until multiple competition-related concerns are addressed.
● INDUSTRY
IAB Tech Lab published a report analyzing potential challenges faced by the advertising industry in adopting Google's Privacy Sandbox. Google responded, noting advertisers' concerns with the initiative.
-
expand_more
March
● REGULATORY
The U.K. Information Commissioner's Office opened a call for views from businesses and digital advertising stakeholders on how pay-or-consent subscription models can achieve third-party cookie compliance.
● INDUSTRY
Microsoft announced it will incorporate the Google Privacy Sandbox application programming interface within its advertising products.
-
expand_more
April
● REGULATORY
The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority published its 2024 first quarter report on Google's efforts to implement the Privacy Sandbox. The report stated Google met all commitments made to the CMA, although further progress was needed to resolve its competition concerns.
● INDUSTRY
Google pledged to destroy data collected from the incognito Chrome browsing option as part of its settlement of a 2020 privacy class-action lawsuit.
● INDUSTRY
A study found the majority of Australians prefer privacy over targeted advertising.
-
expand_more
May
● REGULATORY
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit dismissed a class-action lawsuit against Amazon, which claimed its Alexa served targeted ads to users based on their voices.
● INDUSTRY
Apple announced Web Eraser, an AI-based privacy feature that aims to allow users to block ads and other parts of websites they do not wish to view.
-
expand_more
June
● REGULATORY
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission finalized its order preventing the antivirus company Avast from selling or licensing web browsing data for advertising purposes. The company was fined USD16.5 million over misleading claims that it blocked third-party tracking.
● INDUSTRY
LinkedIn removed its targeted advertising tool to comply with the EU Digital Services Act provisions prohibiting companies from using sensitive personal data for advertising purposes.
-
expand_more
July
● REGULATORY
The European Commission notified Meta of alleged Digital Markets Act violations related to the platform's pay-or-consent subscription model for targeted advertising.
● INDUSTRY
Advertising technology companies continued to raise concerns that Google's Privacy Sandbox remains unprepared for launch.
● INDUSTRY
TikTok revised its advertising standards to limit the ability of advertisers to target users ages 13-17.
-
expand_more
August
● REGULATORY
A report by Denmark's Agency for Digitalisation, the Digitaliseringsstyrelsen, revealed 42.2% of websites use unclassified cookies.
● REGULATORY
The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority accepted Meta's proposals for handling advertisers' data. Meta previously committed to limiting use of customers' data to prevent it from securing an "unfair advantage."
● INDUSTRY
NOYB filed a lawsuit against Hamburg's Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information over a ruling that allowed pay-or-consent cookie banners on a magazine's website.
-
expand_more
September
● REGULATORY
Belgium's Data Protection Authority issued a preliminary sanction against Dutch media company Mediahuis for alleged unlawful cookie banners and deceptive design patterns.
● REGULATORY
Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., vetoed a bill that would have required web browsers to have an opt-out mechanism for online behavioral advertising, following industry group advocacy.
-
expand_more
October
● REGULATORY
The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled in favor of NOYB Chairman Max Schrems in his civil complaint against Meta, finding the company violated the EU GDPR's data minimization principle when it processed statements regarding sexual orientation without consent for targeted advertising purposes, even if such statements had been made public.
● REGULATORY
Ireland's Data Protection Commission fined LinkedIn 310 million euros for allegedly conducting behavioral analysis and targeted advertising in violation of the U.K. GDPR.
● INDUSTRY
Google announced the implementation of an advertising data retention policy that limits access to data after 11 years, including information stored in Google's advertising services.
-
expand_more
November
● REGULATORY
South Korea's Personal Information Protection Commission issued Meta a KRW21.6232 billion fine, claiming it had violated the Personal Information Protection Act by collecting Facebook users' sensitive personal information for ad-targeting purposes.
● REGULATORY
The European Commission fined Meta 798 million euros for embedding Facebook Marketplace within its social network, causing alternative classified ads services to face "unfair trading conditions."
● REGULATORY
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner issued private sector guidance for deploying tracking pixels on websites.
● INDUSTRY
Meta announced plans to roll out an alternative targeted advertising model for EU Facebook and Instagram users that does not require payment and will serve "less personalized ads."
-
expand_more
December
● REGULATORY
The European Commission issued a request for information to Google following a report by the Financial Times of a "secret" advertising partnership with Meta that allegedly violated Google's policies for online advertisements targeted at minors. The Commission reportedly asked lawyers at Google parent company Alphabet to "review and collate data, presentations, internal chats and emails related to the ad campaigns" that served teens personalized ads for Instagram on YouTube.
● REGULATORY
South Africa's Information Regulator published guidance assisting responsible parties with compliance to provisions of the Protection of Personal Information Act of 2013 when processing personal data. The guidance applies to entities engaging in direct marketing through unsolicited electronic and nonelectronic communications.
● INDUSTRY
Meta announced plans to restrict advertisers' access to certain categories of user data on its platforms. The plans will limit their access to data by topic, which will include health and wellness, financial services, and politics. The move could limit advertisers' ability to target Meta users based on their online activity.