So-called dark advertising, such as promoting alcohol directly in targeted digital ads, is generally operating under the radar without regulation, according to research by a group of Australian academics.
They find that digital platforms do not provide meaningful transparency of what alcohol companies and other advertisers are doing.
No digital platform provides a publicly accessible archive of advertisements. This means alcohol advertisements can be published on digital platforms with little ability for these to be observed beyond the audience that were directly targeted.
The researchers say the advertising model of social and digital media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok needs to be open to public scrutiny and accountability.
They write: “Although digital platforms and advertising agencies have access to detailed information about the digital marketing activities they provide, they have largely failed to make this information accessible in the absence of regulatory requirements for transparency.
“This means that the true nature and extent of harmful digital marketing practices remain largely under the radar, allowing digital platforms to not be held accountable for the harm perpetuated by their business actions.
They say advertisements are optimised to drive engagement, through clicks or purchases, and target people who are the most likely to engage.
For example, people identified as high-volume alcohol consumers will likely receive more alcohol ads.
“Facebook and Instagram are the only platforms to publish a list of all currently active advertisements,” write the researchers.
“However, most of these ads are deleted after the campaign becomes inactive and are no longer observable.
“Platforms also fail to provide contextual information for advertisements, such as advertising spend and reach, or how advertisements are being targeted.”
The research, for the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE), is part of the Young Australians and the Promotion of Alcohol on Social Media project and supported by an Australian Research Council Linkage Project.
The researchers: Kiah Hawker; School of Communication and Arts, The University of Queensland; Nicholas Carah; School of Communication and Arts, The University of Queensland; Daniel Angus; Digital Media Research Centre, Queensland University of Technology; Aimee Brownbill; Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education; Xue Ying (Jane) Tan; Digital Media Research Centre, Queensland University of Technology; Amy Dobson; Curtin iSchool, Curtin University; Brady Robards; School of Social Sciences, Monash University.
Another study by VicHealth, Monash University and The University of Queensland partnered with 204 participants (aged 16-25) to look at how alcohol, unhealthy food, sugary drinks and gambling products were promoted to them online, and how it made them feel.
The participants, taking on the role of citizen scientists, provided the researchers with 5,169 examples of advertising for unhealthy food, alcohol and gambling they saw on their social media feeds across a two-week period.
It raised the concern of the citizen scientists, who experienced this first-hand.
“This experience was eye opening. I became aware of just how many advertisements I am exposed to throughout the day, and how the majority of ads are for unhealthy food/activities,” Rupert, aged 20, said.
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