This post was most recently updated on July 26th, 2023
Staying GDPR compliant is never easy. The more complicated your ad setup, the bigger your chances are of not being GDPR compliant.
In this post, we’ll show you how you can check your ad placements for GDPR compliance with our free Chrome extension PubGuru Ad Inspector (PGAI). PGAI can act as a free CMP validator amongst its many other functions. With PGAI, you can analyze the advertising setup of any website in seconds and get information on a range of data such as ad units, bidders, GDPR, and much more.
To see whether your ad placements are GDPR compliant, download the PubGuru Ad Inspector Chrome extension, visit your website and turn on the extension.
Once the extension has loaded, navigate to the GDPR tab and check whether your ad placements are compliant. If your site is GDPR compliant, your screen should look something like this. Direct your attention to the area in yellow.
Google Analytics is implemented via Google Ad Manager and may not be GDPR compliant. For this site, we need to verify that Google Analytics is loaded after GDPR consent is obtained. However, Google AdSense is implemented properly, and it is GDPR compliant.
What to do if your ad placements are not GDPR compliant?
***Disclaimer: We are not lawyers nor have the qualifications to be lawyers. Therefore, none of the content in this article should be interpreted as legal advice. For any GDPR legal advice, please consult a qualified GDPR legal professional.***
You need a consent management platform (CMP) to collect data from users and use it for advertising targeting in such a way that complies with GDPR laws. A simple solution would be to start using PubGuru DataGuard.
PubGuru DataGuard is MonetizeMore’s consent management tool that shows a consent pop-up to users located in the EU/EEA. The pop-up discloses which user data will be used for advertising purposes. Find additional information about PubGuru DataGuard on the FAQ page here.
Here’s a screenshot of the PubGuru DataGuard consent pop-up.
When utilizing the PubGuru Ad Ops Platform and header bidding solution, setting up PubGuru DataGuard is essential and provided as part of our managed service. Sign up to PubGuru DataGuard now!
What if you decide not to become GDPR compliant?
You might fall prey to thinking that it’s not important to be GDPR compliant. Maybe only a small portion of your website traffic is from EU countries. Maybe you think that your operations are too small scale to be noticed by GDPR regulators.
Also, there is often a misconception that you only need to ask for consent when you run ads on your site. Most third-party tools collect user data in some way or the other unless they say expressly say that they don’t. Be sure to check every third-party tool or service you run on your site for GDPR compliance.
All it takes is one complaint to GDPR regulators, and you could be on their radar or worse, get fined. If that’s not enough, all major ad networks have served notice that they will take revenue clawback action against sites that aren’t GDPR compliant.
That means that you could lose out on ad revenue you work very hard for, and your business could go bust!
Conclusion
With privacy becoming more of a mainstream issue that regulators are cracking down on, the risk is too significant to not be GDPR compliant. Stop placing unnecessary risk on your business and prevent ad network revenue clawbacks. Sign up for PubGuru DataGuard today!
With over seven years at the forefront of programmatic advertising, Aleesha is a renowned Ad-Tech expert, blending innovative strategies with cutting-edge technology. Her insights have reshaped programmatic advertising, leading to groundbreaking campaigns and 10X ROI increases for publishers and global brands. She believes in setting new standards in dynamic ad targeting and optimization.