Slovenčina 
Čeština 
Shqiptare 
Österreich 
België 
български 
Bosanski 
Українська 
Eesti 
Македонски 
Türkçe 
Deutsch 
Dansk 
Español 
Français 
Suomi 
Ελληνικά 
Hrvatski 
Magyar 
Schweiz 
Italiano 
Lietuvių 
Latviešu 
Nederlands 
Norsk 
Polski 
Português 
Română 
Srpski 
Slovenščina 
Svenska 
From 10th October, the Regulation on Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising (TTPA) will take effect in the EU. Under this, major digital platforms must:
- clearly label political advertising,
- state who paid for it and how much it cost
- and specify which elections or target audiences are affected.
Failure to comply with the rules could result in fines of up to 6% of annual global turnover.
Why is Meta withdrawing political advertising?
“This is a difficult decision,” Meta said in a statement. According to the company, the new rules significantly limit how platforms can deliver personalised campaigns that inform the public about important issues. Meta argues this will ultimately harm European voters by preventing them from receiving sufficient and diverse information.
Impact on e-commerce
Both Meta and Google typically apply restrictions more broadly than might appear. Simply referencing sustainability, health or social responsibility may be enough for an advert to be automatically blocked, redirected for manual review or subject to advertiser verification.
Whilst the ban primarily concerns political advertising, in practice ordinary campaigns with value-based messaging may also be restricted.
If you communicate topics such as sustainability, health, education, or artificial intelligence, your campaign may be automatically flagged by the platform as sensitive and thus fall under stricter regulations. This particularly affects the B2B segment, which often works with regulated sectors such as energy, healthcare, or finance.
Brands as well as agencies will need to monitor more carefully which campaigns might encounter restrictions and prepare for additional approval steps.
4 points that can help avoid problems
- Plan campaigns well in advance. It’s wise to account for possible delays in approval or the need for copy amendments.
- Consider more neutral language in adverts. Avoid wording that algorithms might evaluate as sensitive (e.g. “save the planet”, “fight against disease”…).
- Handle brand and performance separately. If sales and sensitive topics meet in one advert, this can cause approval problems. Splitting campaigns reduces risk and provides better control.
- Pay attention to approval processes and Ad Policy. Monitor rule changes and consider consulting with a partner or platform.
What next?
The coming months will show whether Meta and Google decide to restrict advertising strictly to political topics, or whether the new rules will have a broader impact on commercial advertisers as well. Therefore, it’s worth accounting for their influence at the planning stage.
