The EU Raises The Bar On Ad Transparency

The regulatory context

The majority of the provisions of the Digital Services Act (DSA) have applied since 17 February 2024, designed to make online platforms and search engines safer, more transparent and accountable (see our articlehere). While certain duties vary depending on the nature of the service, all platforms share a central duty to prevent the distribution of illegal and harmful content and give users greater control over what they see online.

A core part of this framework is the DSA's transparency requirements, which apply to content curation and online advertising. All in scope services must "guarantee transparency and control" over the content users see on their feed and must allow individuals to "opt-out of personalised recommendations". These obligations extend directly to advertising practices requiring platforms and search engines to clearly label ads and explain why a user is seeing them.

For very large online platforms (VLOPs) and very large online search engines (VLOSEs), those with more than 45 million monthly users, these obligations go further. VLOPs and VLOSEs must maintain a public repository of paid advertising run across their services. Article 39(2) of the DSA sets out the information the repositories must contain, including:

• What the advertisement is, what it is promoting, and the nature of the product, service, or brand being advertised.
• Who the advertisement is for, that is, the individual or organisation that benefits it.
• Who paid for the advertisement, where this differs from the entity being promoted.
• The period during which the ad was shown, including start and end dates.
• Whether and how the ad was targeted, including who it was and was not intended to reach.
• Any commercial or sponsored content identified by the platform as advertising.
• How many people were reached by the ad, including the numbers broken down by member state.

As the Commission has noted "the DSA requires platforms to maintain an accessible and searchable repository of the ads running on their services. These repositories are critical for regulators, researchers, and civil society to detect scams, advertisements for illegal or age-inappropriate products, fake advertisements, and coordinated information operations, including in the context of elections."

TikTok's binding commitments

Within this regulatory landscape, the Commissioninitiated proceedingsto assess how TikTok was implementing its obligations under the DSA. The review focused on several areas including TikTok's approach to protecting minors, transparency of its advertising practices, the availability of data for independent researchers, and the management of risks associated with certain design features and content.

On 15 May 2025, the Commission published itspreliminary assessment. The Commission highlighted the need for clearer information about the platform's advertisements, including itscontent, targeted users, and purchasers, and to improve the functionality of its advertising repository so that the public can search it effectively.

Following continued engagement with the Commission, on 5 December 2025 TikTok agreed to implement a series ofbinding commitmentsaimed at enhancing the transparency of its advertising repository and support full compliance with the DSA. These commitments included:

• Displaying the full ad exactly as it appears on a user's feed, including featured URLs;
• Regular updates to its ad repository ensuring information is published within 24 hours;
• Providing details of the targeting options advertisers selected, along with user data (including gender, age group and Member State of the users reached), "enabling researchers to investigate how ads are targeted and delivered"; and
• Introducing new search tools and filters to make it easier for users to find specific ads.

These commitments will be implemented according to staggered deadlines over the next 2 to 12 months and the Commission will monitor that implementation process throughout this period.

While many platforms and search engines will agree in theory that transparency around what, how and why certain content is displayed is key to ensuring safety online and generating confidence, in practice many have found it technically challenging to find solutions that meet legal requirements in a way that does not significantly impact user experience. It will be really interesting to see how Tiktok tackle the challenge as it will likely form the basis of a blueprint for other platforms to follow going forwards.

Practical Takeaways

• Review advertising transparency processes: Ensure all ads are clearly labelled, explain why a user is seeing them, and include sufficient detail to meet DSA requirements.
• Prepare for enhanced repository obligations: If classified as a VLOP/VLOSE, confirm your ad repository contains all required data and is fully searchable.
• Strengthen targeting documentation: Maintain clear records of targeting criteria and audience groups to ensure they can be disclosed when required.
• Improve turnaround times for publishing ad data: Assess internal workflows to meet the DSA's expectation for rapid updates (e.g. within 24 hours).
• Monitor regulatory developments and enforcement: Platforms should proactively identify transparency gaps to mitigate compliance risk and expect increased scrutiny from regulators.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.