In July, the UK competition authority published the final report on its study of online platforms and digital advertising. The authority consulted on, and studied in detail, a range of potential in-terventions to improve competition between platforms funded by digital advertising, including a code of conduct to govern the behaviour of platforms with market power, rules to give con-sumers greater control over their data, and interventions to address the sources of the market power of large platforms.
The authority concluded that: "[our] current tools, which allow us to enforce against individual practices and concerns, are not sufficient to protect competition. [...] Tackling such issues requires an ongoing focus, and the ability to monitor and amend interventions as required." The authority therefore continues to advocate for a new regulatory regime for online platforms, to be implemented by a dedicated regulatory body, empowered to enforce a code of conduct on platforms and to impose a range of pro-competitive interventions.
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