Big Brands; Advertisers Form U7 to Address Digital Advertising’s Future

As various industries strengthen their efforts and raise self-regulatory standards, more follow suit. Unruly, the video marketplace that provide analytics to advertisers for audience engagement, has formed the U7—a council composed of brands, agencies and leading global advertisers to address concerns and improve the landscape of digital marketing.

The U7 is comprised of 10 of the world’s largest advertisers including American Express, Diageo, GSK, L’Oreal, Mars, Nestlé, Unilever, Samsung, and The Wall Street Journal. They will also be joined by leaders from Carat, Havas, and Wavemaker.

There is a general consensus that addressing brand safety, transparency and accountability among advertisers (e.g., data traffic, user engagement, and consumer data) is of importance, and U7 aims to create an avenue for dialogue between advertisers and marketers to gain an understanding of emerging digital technologies.

The council’s first meeting, titled “Hearts & Minds”, will establish a roadmap of future activity for the group, and will delve deeper into the role emotions and trust as it relates to the future of digital advertising.

Read more about the U7 council and about the U7 agenda online.

Advocates believe Kid Influencers Deserve Same Protections as Other Child Stars

Although there are child labor laws in California that are designed to protect child stars from exploitation (The Coogan Act), the same protections don't always apply to child YouTube and Instagram stars, or kid influencers. Kid Influencers accounts are usually run by their parents since platforms like YouTube and Instagram have age limits of 13 years old. One consequence of not owning their accounts is that all profits received go directly to the guardians and, unlike traditional child actors in California, these guardians are not required to set aside some of the profits for the children. Advocates like Paul Petersen, believe the legal protections like those in California should apply to children outside of the state. Petersen has said that because YouTube is in San Bruno, California and they are paying to broadcast children, California law must apply to those child stars. Many guardians of kid influencers feel these regulations are unnecessary and that the guardians are doi...

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