Lessons learned from a year of working with the EU Commission under the Memorandum of Understanding on Online Advertising and Intellectual Property Rights on the Online Advertising Market.


The MOU (signed in 2018) marked a rare opportunity to build a cooperation program between advertising intermediaries, advertisers, technology providers, and industry associations to prevent ad placement on IP infringing websites and apps.

Ads placed on IP infringing websites and apps directly fund piracy.



The issue is something that brands should be acutely aware of as often their advertisers and supply chain partners are a big part of the problem.



Misplaced Ads:

• Give unwarranted credibility to pirate and IP infringing websites and apps - this confuses consumers, who may mistakenly believe that such websites or apps provide access to legal content, goods or services, and erodes their confidence.
• Damage the reputation of legitimate brands, which are often unaware of where their ads end up.
• Damage the status, and undermine the value of, the advertising industry.



The first year of this ongoing programme, targeted at brands and advertisers operating in the EU, has already seen success.



Our data shows there was a substantial decrease in the proportion of ads collected from premium household name brands (Major Brands) that are based or headquartered in the EU, falling from 93% to 75% in the first six months of 2019.



As the process evolves and expands, we are continuing to see positive results in our piracy landscape analytics. All thanks to the changing habits of advertisers, brands and those intermediaries in the supply chain that are on board with us and taking advantage of our AI-driven IP infringement focused technology.



We are delivering transparency and shedding light on the complexity of the piracy landscape, thus allowing regulation and compliance efforts around IP infringement to become more productive. 



However, to get the most significant impact, more intermediaries and stakeholders need to get on board. It's a considerable effort and a multi-targeted "clean up" job that needs breadth and support to succeed to its full potential.



What the EU Commission has put together is laudable, it is working, and we are proud to be able to support as a technology partner.



We hope that governments around the world are taking note of the success of the EU Commission's programme so far. What works here can work anywhere.



The 2019 Study on the Impact of the Memorandum of Understanding on Online Advertising and Intellectual Property Rights on the Online Advertising Market is now available and free to download.



For more information about White Bullet's work, our technology, the study and the MOU, please contact us.