Issue November 2026: Bidding on the events that pay
Industry and market insights
Research briefings for advertisers who run media across markets, published when the work is finished and checked. Each piece starts from a commercial problem we see in accounts, explains the mechanism, and points to the primary source so you can check it yourself.
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Software & SaaS, Global
Optimise SaaS trials to activated accounts
A software company with a free trial can give an ad platform three events to bid on: the trial sign-up, the first product action that predicts payment, and the first payment. Sign-ups arrive on the day of the click and in large numbers, but some come from people who never use the product again. Payments are what the business keeps, but they come after the trial ends and in small numbers. Meta counts click-through conversions for at most 7 days after a link click, so a payment on day 14 of a trial never reaches its optimisation. Google Ads allows click-through windows of up to 90 days and accepts imported conversions up to 90 days after the click. For most trials the workable bid event is activation: a product action in the first week that your own data links to payment. Report payments next to it on every channel, and check each month that activated accounts from each channel still go on to pay.
Google Ads, Meta Ads, LinkedIn Ads, Search
Tourism, Travel & Hospitality, Global
Hotel direct bookings start with free links
A hotel that sells most of its rooms through online travel agencies pays commission on each of those stays. Google shows hotel rates from Hotel Center partners as free booking links, charges nothing for the clicks and ranks them without regard to who advertises. Getting the hotel’s own rate into those links, and tagging the clicks so the booking engine can count them, costs no media. After that, each paid option has to beat the same figure. Performance Max for travel goals, hotel ads on Google and travel ads on Meta are worth running only while a direct booking they bring in costs less than the commission and fees the hotel would otherwise pay. For guests in the European Economic Area, Google’s hotel results also include a supplier unit for direct providers, next to the units filled by travel agencies and metasearch sites.
Google Ads, Performance Max, Meta Ads, Search
Cross-industry, United Kingdom
UK advertising rules in 2026
Two changes reshape UK advertising in 2026. The Data (Use and Access) Act lets sites set some analytics cookies without consent, while PECR fines rose to £17.5 million or 4% of global turnover from 5 February 2026. Since 5 January 2026, ads for identifiable less healthy food and drink are barred from paid online media and from TV and on-demand services between 5:30am and 9pm. Brands that adjust tagging and media plans early keep their measurement and their reach; brands that wait risk fines or rejected copy.
Google Ads, Meta Ads, TV advertising, Audio and streaming ads
Cross-industry, United States
US privacy rules for advertisers in 2026
The US still has no federal privacy law, but the state map grew again in 2026. Indiana, Kentucky and Rhode Island laws took effect on 1 January, bringing the count of states with comprehensive privacy laws to twenty. California’s updated CCPA regulations, also effective 1 January 2026, add risk assessments, cybersecurity audits and rights around automated decision-making technology. For advertisers the practical work is opt-out handling for targeted advertising in every state where you have customers, and a record of how audience data is used.
Google Ads, Meta Ads, Connected TV and OTT, Retail media
Cross-industry, Canada
Canada news, tax and ad rules in 2026
Three facts shape Canadian digital advertising in 2026. Meta has blocked news content on Facebook and Instagram in Canada since August 2023 in response to the Online News Act. Google holds an exemption from the Act in exchange for paying C$100 million a year, distributed to news outlets by the Canadian Journalism Collective. Canada announced on 29 June 2025 that it would rescind its 3% digital services tax. For advertisers, news audiences on Meta are gone, publisher inventory reached through other routes carries more of the news context, and platform pricing is no longer exposed to the DST.
Meta Ads, Google Ads, Programmatic display, Connected TV and OTT
Cross-industry, Australia
Australia’s under-16 rule and advertisers
From 10 December 2025, age-restricted social media platforms must take reasonable steps to stop Australians under 16 from creating or keeping accounts. eSafety named TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, X and Twitch among the platforms the law is intended to capture; fines reach A$49.5 million. Advertisers lose logged-in under-16 audiences on those services and should expect shifts in reach estimates. Gaming, messaging, education and health services sit outside the restriction.
Meta Ads, TikTok Ads, Snapchat Ads, Google Ads
Cross-industry, New Zealand
New Zealand’s IPP3A and lead generation
The Privacy Amendment Act 2025 added Information Privacy Principle 3A, in force from 1 May 2026. Agencies that collect personal information about someone from a source other than that person must take reasonable steps to tell them, unless an exception applies. Advertisers who buy lead lists, enrich CRM records or receive leads through partners need a notice process. Leads captured directly on your own forms are outside IPP3A, which gives first-party lead generation a compliance advantage.
Meta Ads, Google Ads, LinkedIn Ads
Cross-industry, Ireland
Ireland’s advertising rules in 2026
Irish advertisers face a mix of national and EU changes. Alcohol advertising on television has been restricted between 3am and 9pm since January 2025, while mandatory alcohol health labels were deferred from May 2026 to September 2028. Coimisiún na Meán opened its first formal investigation under the Online Safety Code in September 2026. EU rules on political advertising and on AI-generated content now apply as well.
Meta Ads, Google Ads, TV advertising, Radio advertising
Cross-industry, Singapore
Singapore scam and safety rules in 2026
Singapore is pressing platforms hard on scam advertising. In September 2025 the police issued the first Implementation Directive under the Online Criminal Harms Act, ordering Meta to use enhanced facial recognition against Facebook ads and pages impersonating key government office holders. The Online Safety Commission and the Online Safety (Relief and Accountability) Act 2025 started on 29 June 2026, giving people affected by online harms a route to timely redress. Legitimate advertisers should expect stricter identity checks and faster takedowns, especially for finance and investment ads.
Meta Ads, Google Ads, TikTok Ads
Cross-industry, Philippines
Philippines 12% VAT on digital ads
Republic Act 12023 brought digital services, including online advertising, into Philippine VAT. Nonresident digital service providers with more than PHP 3 million in turnover had to register by 2 April 2025 and have charged 12% VAT since 1 June 2025. For advertisers buying from global platforms, budgets now need a clear rule on whether figures are gross or net of VAT, and finance teams need the right invoices to claim input VAT where they can.
Meta Ads, Google Ads, TikTok Ads
Cross-industry, Germany
Germany’s consent and ad rules in 2026
Germany created a legal route around repeated cookie banners. The Consent Management Ordinance (EinwV) has applied since 1 April 2025, and on 17 October 2025 the federal data protection commissioner recognised the first consent management service. Use is voluntary, and ordinary consent banners remain lawful. EU rules on political advertising and AI-generated content add a second layer for campaigns in 2026.
Google Ads, Meta Ads, Programmatic display
Cross-industry, Austria
Austria’s ad taxes and rules in 2026
Austria taxes advertising twice over, by channel. The 5% Werbeabgabe applies to print, broadcast and outdoor advertising, while large online advertisers pay a 5% Digital Tax on online advertising received in Austria. RTR figures show Digital Tax revenue up about 25% in the first seven months of 2026 while Werbeabgabe revenue fell about 8%, a sign of budget moving online. EU rules on political advertising and AI-generated content also apply.
Google Ads, Meta Ads, Out-of-home, TV advertising
Cross-industry, Switzerland
Switzerland’s tobacco ad and consent rules
Switzerland tightened tobacco and nicotine advertising in two steps. The Tobacco Products Act has restricted advertising since October 2024, and a revision passed by Parliament in June 2025 to implement the 2022 popular initiative is due to take effect in early 2027, banning online advertising that reaches minors and advertising at points of sale. Switzerland is outside the EU, so the EU political advertising rules do not apply there, but Google treats Swiss traffic like EEA traffic for consent.
Google Ads, Meta Ads, Out-of-home, Print advertising
Cross-industry, France
France’s cookie fines and influencer rules
France is the strictest market in Europe on cookies and advertising consent. On 1 September 2025 the CNIL fined Google €325 million for showing ads between Gmail users’ emails without consent and for cookies set at account creation, and fined SHEIN €150 million for cookies placed without consent. The 2023 influencer law applies to anyone promoting to a French audience. EU rules on political advertising and AI-generated content apply on top.
Google Ads, Meta Ads, TikTok Ads
Cross-industry, Belgium
Belgium’s gambling ad ban and 2026 rules
Belgium has one of Europe’s widest gambling advertising bans. A general ban has applied since 1 July 2023; gambling ads in sports stadiums were banned from 1 January 2025, and limited shirt sponsorship for professional clubs ends on 1 January 2028. The minimum age for gambling rose to 21 in September 2024. EU rules on political advertising and AI-generated content apply as well.
Google Ads, Meta Ads, Sponsorships
Cross-industry, Netherlands
Netherlands gambling ad limits in 2026
The Netherlands finished phasing out gambling sponsorship in 2025. Licensed online gambling operators have been barred from untargeted advertising on TV, radio and in public spaces since 1 July 2023, and since 1 July 2025 they cannot sponsor sports clubs, matches or individual athletes. The gambling regulator, the Ksa, said it would enforce strictly. EU rules on political advertising and AI-generated content apply too.
Google Ads, Meta Ads, Sponsorships, TV advertising
Cross-industry, Italy
Italy’s influencer code and 2026 ad rules
Italy now regulates large influencers almost like broadcasters. In July 2025 AGCOM adopted guidelines and a code of conduct for influencers, with stricter rules on disguised advertising, more protection for minors, fines of up to €600,000 and an official register of relevant influencers. Brands working with Italian creators need contracts that reflect these duties. EU rules on political advertising and AI-generated content apply as well.
Meta Ads, TikTok Ads, Google Ads
Cross-industry, Spain
Spain’s influencer rules and 2026 ad changes
Spain treats its largest creators as audiovisual service providers. Royal Decree 444/2024 sets the thresholds for “users of special relevance” under the General Audiovisual Communication Law, and those creators must register in the state register and follow advertising and minor-protection rules. Autocontrol updated its code of conduct on advertising through influencers, in force since October 2025. EU rules on political advertising and AI-generated content apply too.
Meta Ads, TikTok Ads, Google Ads
Cross-industry, Sweden
Sweden advertising rules in 2026
Three rule sets shape paid media in Sweden this year. The EU political advertising regulation has applied since 10 October 2025, and Meta and Google have stopped selling political and issue ads in the EU. Konsumentverket treats a company’s own social posts and any paid influencer post as marketing under the Marketing Practices Act. Google requires a certified consent platform for ads served in the EEA. None of this blocks commercial campaigns, but each one changes what a brief, a creator contract and a measurement plan must contain.
Meta Ads, Google Ads, TikTok Ads
Cross-industry, Norway
Norway advertising rules in 2026
Norway has one advertising rule that most foreign advertisers miss: since 1 July 2022 the Marketing Control Act requires a standard label on any advertisement in which a body’s shape, size or skin has been retouched. It applies to social media and to foreign advertisers targeting Norwegian consumers, and anyone who helps publish an unlabelled ad can be held liable. As an EEA country, Norway also falls under Google’s consent requirements for ads. Norway is not an EU member, so the EU political advertising regulation does not apply directly, but campaigns that also reach EU audiences do meet it.
Meta Ads, Google Ads, TikTok Ads
Cross-industry, Denmark
Denmark advertising rules in 2026
Denmark’s 2026 changes come mostly from EU law. Since 10 October 2025 paid political ads must carry a label and transparency notice, and the large platforms have stopped selling political and issue ads in the EU. The Digital Services Act is enforced through national coordinators, which adds a local route for complaints about ads on platforms. Google’s consent requirements for the EEA apply to Danish traffic. For commercial advertisers the main work is checking issue-based messaging and keeping consent and measurement in order.
Meta Ads, Google Ads, Programmatic display
Cross-industry, Poland
Poland advertising rules in 2026
Poland’s competition and consumer authority, UOKiK, is one of the most active enforcers of influencer labelling in Europe. Its recommendations ask for two-level labelling, using the platform’s paid-partnership tool and a text label such as #reklama, and in March 2025 it fined three well-known influencers almost half a million złoty in total. EU political advertising rules have applied since October 2025. On the opportunity side, Allegro Ads gives sellers search and display placements on Poland’s largest marketplace.
Marketplace advertising, Meta Ads, Google Ads
Cross-industry, Czechia
Czech Republic ad rules in 2026
Czech advertisers work in a market with a strong local search engine. Seznam runs its own search and display network, sold through Sklik, next to Google. The 2026 rule changes are EU-wide: political and issue ads face labelling and targeting limits since 10 October 2025, the Digital Services Act is enforced through national coordinators, and Google requires a certified consent platform for EEA traffic. A Czech plan that covers only Google misses part of search demand, and one that skips consent checks under-reports results.
Google Ads, Meta Ads, Programmatic display
Cross-industry, Türkiye
Türkiye advertising rules in 2026
Türkiye changed its core advertising regulation this year. The amendment published in the Official Gazette on 1 July 2026 took effect on 1 August 2026 and covers targeted advertising, influencer posts, AI-generated ads, discount claims, environmental claims and consumer reviews. Influencers who receive any benefit must mark posts with “reklam” or “tanıtım”, and AI copies of real people may not appear to endorse a product. Separately, the digital service tax on advertising and other digital services fell from 7.5% to 5% from 1 January 2026, which changes the cost of media bought from foreign platforms.
Google Ads, Meta Ads, Marketplace advertising
Cross-industry, United Arab Emirates
UAE advertising rules in 2026
Since 2025 anyone publishing promotional content on social media in the UAE needs an advertiser permit from the UAE Media Council, whether or not they are paid. The permit is free for the first three years for citizens and residents, visiting creators need a visitor permit arranged through a licensed agency, and the permit number must be shown on the account. The federal media law that came into force in 2025 sets fines from Dh10,000 to Dh1 million. Brands are expected to work only with licensed creators.
Meta Ads, TikTok Ads, Google Ads
Cross-industry, Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia ad rules in 2026
Creator advertising in Saudi Arabia runs through Mawthooq, a licence issued by the General Authority for Media Regulation (GAMR) that lets individuals provide advertising content on social media for three years. When it launched in 2022 the licence cost SR15,000. Paid partnerships must be disclosed, and foreign creators who advertise to Saudi audiences need to work within the same system. For brands, the licence check is now a standard step before any creator booking.
TikTok Ads, Meta Ads, Google Ads
Cross-industry, China
China advertising rules in 2026
Paid media in mainland China runs on domestic platforms: Baidu for search, Tencent across WeChat and its apps, and ByteDance’s Ocean Engine for Douyin and Toutiao. The rules around them tightened in steps. The Measures for the Administration of Internet Advertising have applied since 1 May 2023, the Network Data Security Management Regulations since 1 January 2025, and mandatory personal information compliance audits since 1 May 2025. Foreign brands entering in 2026 should plan for local accounts, local data handling and audit-ready records from the first campaign.
Programmatic display, Marketplace advertising
Cross-industry, Hong Kong
Hong Kong advertising rules in 2026
Hong Kong’s Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance sets one of the strictest direct-marketing consent rules in Asia. Under Part 6A a company must get informed consent before using personal data for direct marketing or passing it to a third party for that purpose, and silence never counts as consent. The rule matters to paid media because customer-list audiences, retargeting by email or phone and offline conversion uploads all rely on personal data. Brands that collect consent correctly can use these tools; brands that do not are exposed.
Google Ads, Meta Ads, Programmatic display
Cross-industry, Japan
Japan advertising rules in 2026
Since 1 October 2023 Japan has treated undisclosed advertising, known as stealth marketing, as a misleading representation under the Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations. Any content a business directs or controls must be recognisable as advertising, with labels such as “広告”, “PR” or “プロモーション”. The Consumer Affairs Agency issued its first order in June 2024 against a clinic that gave patients a discount for positive Google Maps reviews. For media plans, LINE Yahoo’s LY Ads remains the main domestic alternative to Google for search and display.
Google Ads, Meta Ads, TikTok Ads
Cross-industry, South Korea
South Korea ad rules in 2026
The Korea Fair Trade Commission amended its guidelines on recommendations and endorsements twice in two years: rules for text-based media took effect on 1 December 2024, and a further amendment took effect on 1 June 2026. Paid or sponsored content must be disclosed in a way readers notice. On the data side, the Personal Information Protection Commission issued updated privacy policy guidelines in 2024 that set out how companies must describe processing and overseas transfers. Korean media plans also differ from most markets because NAVER Search Ads and Kakao Moment, run by the main local search portal and messaging platform, sit next to Google and Meta.
Google Ads, Meta Ads, TikTok Ads
Cross-industry, Brazil
Brazil advertising rules in 2026
Brazil’s advertising self-regulator CONAR published a new edition of its influencer marketing guide, in effect from 1 June 2026. It widens the definition of digital influencers beyond individuals, clarifies when a material connection with an advertiser exists and adds rules on child protection and the use of AI in ads. On the data side, the national data protection authority ANPD has set rules for international transfers, including standard contractual clauses, and keeps an active regulatory agenda for 2025 and 2026. For e-commerce, Mercado Ads sells placements across Mercado Libre.
Marketplace advertising, Meta Ads, Google Ads
Cross-industry, Mexico
Mexico advertising rules in 2026
Mexico replaced its private-sector data protection law in 2025. A decree published on 20 March 2025 enacted a new Federal Law on the Protection of Personal Data Held by Private Parties, in force from 21 March 2025, as part of a package that dissolved the INAI, the former independent regulator, and moved its functions into the federal executive. For advertisers, privacy notices, consent records and contracts with agencies and platforms should be checked against the new text. On the opportunity side, Mercado Ads gives sellers search and display placements on Mercado Libre.
Marketplace advertising, Google Ads, Meta Ads
Manufacturing, Wholesale & Distribution, United States
Reaching US cabinet distribution buyers
Purchasing managers at cabinet and millwork distributors are a small, specialised audience. Broad social campaigns reach them by accident. The media that can reach them on purpose is narrower: two woodworking trade shows that alternate years, a kitchen and bath show that draws designers more than buyers, trade publications with their own events, LinkedIn targeting by function and industry, and search terms that only trade buyers type. None of these proves reach to purchasing managers on its own. The plan should buy the cheapest test of each and count qualified dealer or distributor conversations, not form fills.
Events and exhibitions, Print advertising, LinkedIn Ads, Google Ads
E-commerce, United States
When retail media beats paid social
Retail media and paid social answer different questions. A sponsored product ad answers a shopper who is already searching a retailer for the category. A social ad has to create the want before it can sell. Retail media tends to win for replenishment and comparison-shopped categories that are already listed, in stock and winning the buy box. Social tends to win for new, visual or considered products that shoppers do not yet search for by name. Compare the two on contribution after the retailer’s fees, not on reported return on ad spend.
Retail media, Amazon Ads, Meta Ads, Marketplace advertising
Cross-industry, Global
Measuring offline media honestly
Billboards, radio, TV, print and events do not produce a click trail, and any report that assigns them an exact number of sales should be read with suspicion. They can still be measured. Geo experiments compare areas that saw the media with areas that did not. QR codes, vanity URLs and promo codes count direct responses but miss most of the effect. Brand search lift shows interest, not sales. Marketing mix models estimate contribution over time but need months of varied spend. Use the strongest method the plan can support, report it as a range with its method, and decide in advance what result would cut or keep the channel.
Out-of-home, TV advertising, Radio advertising, Print advertising, Digital out-of-home
Real Estate, United States
Qualify property buyers before cutting CPM
A premium development can buy cheap impressions and cheap leads all day and still sell nothing. The buyers who matter are few, and in the US the rules for housing ads take away the demographic and ZIP code shortcuts that might otherwise narrow the audience. That puts the work in qualification: what the enquiry form asks, how fast sales calls back, which leads are passed back to the ad platforms as qualified, and what each qualified viewing is worth. Optimise the campaign towards that signal. Lower CPM is only useful once the qualified-viewing rate is known.
Meta Ads, Google Ads, Search
E-commerce, Global
Why platform ROAS overstates profit
Platform ROAS divides the revenue an ad platform attributes to itself by media cost. It leaves out cost of goods, shipping, payment fees and refunds, it counts sales inside the platform’s own attribution window, and it does not say whether the sale would have happened without the ad. In the worked model below, an account reporting ROAS 4.0 makes money if every attributed sale is new and loses money if 60% of them are. Budget decisions should rest on contribution after media, measured against a holdout.
Google Ads, Performance Max, Meta Ads, Amazon Ads
Cross-industry, Global
Where a Google-and-Meta plan stops working
A plan copied from the home market usually buys Google search and Meta social in every country. In several of our 32 markets the local platforms sell search, messaging or marketplace inventory that this plan never touches, and in two markets the global platforms are not a working route at all. This briefing documents what each local platform says it sells, from its own advertiser pages, and sets out the order of checks we run before splitting a multi-country budget.
Google Ads, Meta Ads, Search, Marketplace advertising
Cross-industry, Global
When DOOH or retail media earns a place
Search and social are usually the first lines of a local acquisition plan because they are cheap to start and easy to read. Digital out-of-home and retail media cost more to enter and are harder to measure, so they should come in when a specific condition is met: buyers concentrated in a known area, a product already sold through a retailer, or search demand that has stopped growing with spend. Before booking, calculate the lift the campaign must produce to pay for itself and check that the test can detect it.
Digital out-of-home, Retail media, Out-of-home, Programmatic display
Manufacturing, Wholesale & Distribution, Global
B2B lead volume against qualified pipeline
A B2B campaign optimised for form fills will find people who fill in forms. Buying committees, long sales cycles and a few large contracts mean that most of those people never reach a sales conversation. In the worked model, the campaign with a cost per lead three times higher produces more qualified opportunities and more pipeline value for almost the same spend. The fix is to choose the optimisation event by sales stage, return CRM outcomes to the ad platforms, and report cost per opportunity next to cost per lead.
LinkedIn Ads, Google Ads, Search
E-commerce, Global
Marketplace ads or your own site
Marketplace ads sit next to a buy button that shoppers already trust, so they often convert at a higher rate than traffic sent to a brand’s own site. The marketplace then takes a referral fee on every order and keeps the customer relationship. Owned-site campaigns pay more per order in media and keep the margin and the customer data. The choice comes down to a few numbers per product: fee rate, ad cost per order, and the owned-site conversion rate at which the two routes earn the same.
Amazon Ads, Marketplace advertising, Shopping, Google Ads
Cross-industry, Global
Channel and measurement choices by market
A multi-market plan fails in two predictable ways. It buys channels that are unavailable, ineligible or unmeasurable in some markets, and it spreads the budget so thinly that no market produces a readable result. The framework below runs five gates per market and channel, funds only the lines that pass, and assigns each line a measurement method that can answer the budget question at that spend level. Platform attribution, lift tests, geo holdouts and marketing mix models answer different questions, and each needs a different amount of data.
Google Ads, Meta Ads, TikTok Ads, App acquisition
Real Estate, Global
Optimise lead generation to closed sales
When a lead campaign tells the platform that every form submission is a success, the bidding system finds more people who submit forms. In real estate, B2B software, construction and freight, many of those people never buy. The fix is operational: define a qualified lead, record it in the CRM with the click identifier or a hashed customer identifier, and send that outcome back to the platform as the conversion it should optimise towards.
Google Ads, Meta Ads, LinkedIn Ads
Cross-industry, United Kingdom
How consent shapes UK and EEA measurement
In the UK, the EEA and Switzerland, advertising cookies and similar identifiers need consent, and Google sets its own consent-management requirements for ads served there. The commercial effect is that a share of conversions is never observed directly. Advertisers who plan for that gap, with a working consent banner, modelled conversions and first-party outcome data, report stable numbers. Those who discover it after launch see a sudden drop in reported conversions and often cut the wrong campaigns.
Google Ads, Meta Ads
Medical Tourism, Global
Clear healthcare ad policy before you buy
Healthcare is one of the most restricted advertising categories. Google’s healthcare and medicines policy limits what can be promoted and where, and some services need certification before ads run. Medical-tourism providers add a second layer: the rules of the patient’s country as well as the clinic’s. Campaigns that launch before these checks are done tend to stop at disapproval, which wastes the creative and the launch window. The work belongs before media planning, as a gate.
Google Ads, Meta Ads
Issues
Issue November 2026
Bidding on the events that pay
A research piece on which free-trial event a software company should give Google, Meta and LinkedIn to bid on, set against each platform’s attribution window and import limits.
Read the issueIssue October 2026
2026 rules and openings, market by market
A briefing on 2026 advertising rules and opportunities for each of the 30 markets we serve, plus fourteen research pieces on measuring what the business keeps rather than what platforms report.
Read the issue
Turn the briefing into a plan for your account
Build Your Plan scores each channel for your market, industry, goal and budget, and shows service, setup and media costs on separate lines.