GDPR Compliance for Publishers

What is GDPR?

GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) is a set of rules that harmonize and strengthen data protection for individuals across Europe. It went into effect on May 25, 2018. The GDPR has affected many businesses, and digital content creators are no exception. Publishers, in order to be fully GDPR compliant, must ensure that European web users browsing their site explicitly consent to the processing and collection of their data stored in cookies.

Whom does it apply to?

GDPR is extraterritorial, which means that it applies to all companies processing personal data of users of the European Economic Area, regardless of the companies’ location. As such, publishers who are physically located in non-European countries but serve ads to European users must comply with the GDPR. Even the smallest percentage of European users who visit the site assume full responsibility for managing their data.

Why add a GDPR consent tool?

Avoid ad revenue decrease

European traffic coming from sites without a GDPR consent tool is poorly monetized. Recently, some header bidding demand partners do not bid on non-GDPR compliant sites, which can significantly impact monetization results.

Avoid fines

Non-compliance with GDPR poses severe fines of up to €20 million or 4% of global revenue.

Increase readers’ loyalty

Giving users more information and control over how their data is used increases reader loyalty, which ultimately leads to higher engagement.

Ensure compliance with Google Policies

Serving Google ads in full compliance with Google's Additional Consent Specification will ensure your constant revenue flow from Google AdSense and Google Ad Manager. 

To find out more about GDPR, visit the General Data Protection Regulation Compliance Guidelines.