EU DSA · Ad transparency
Read the latest biannual DSA reports from every platform and they converge on one pattern: in the report, an “ad” is just a thing the platform moderates. None of them describe who advertised, to whom, why, or where you can look an ad up. The report is the thinnest slice of ad transparency — and mostly about taking ads down.
You can download Layer 4. To actually see the ads you need Layer 2; to know the rules, Layer 3; and every ad already carries Layer 1. The report is the bottom rung.
Across all 16 unique reports analysed, ads show up only as a content-moderation subcategory (“we action ads against our Advertising Standards, here are the counts”). No report references its public ad repository (Art. 39), and no report covers targeting limits (Art. 26(3) / Art. 28). Several even carve ad data out entirely.
Stacked top (most visible to a user) to bottom (least). Only the last one shows up in the report you can download.
Marked as an ad; who paid and on whose behalf; the "Why am I seeing this?" panel on every ad.
A searchable library, with an API, that keeps every ad for a year alongside its payer, targeting, and reach.
No targeting on special-category or sensitive data; no profiling-based ads to minors.
Content-moderation counts plus independent audits — the only layer the biannual report actually covers.
Google / YouTube
The report openly excludes ad-moderation done before an ad is surfaced ("content moderation actions on advertisements that are taken before the advertisement is surfaced on a VLOSE or VLOP are not included in this report"), so the bulk of rejections never appear. It does disclose that 0.17% of fully-automated ad enforcement decisions in the EU were overturned on human review.
Meta (Facebook + Instagram)
Ads fold into "Advertising + Commerce Content", and ad review "relies primarily on automated tools."
TikTok
Ads are an "Advertising Policies" sub-policy inside the removals table; advertisers appear only as a class of users who can appeal.
The latest four biannual DSA transparency reports from each platform. This is the only layer the PDFs cover.
Combined VLOSE/VLOP report — YouTube has no standalone report; its DSA data lives in Google’s combined report.
Mind the gap: Meta published a Facebook Apr–Sep 2024 report but no Instagram equivalent — IG jumps from Mar 2024 to Oct–Dec 2024.
We track every major platform's compliance with the EU's Digital Services Act — country by country.