Meta-study shows: Personalized advertising saves the EU economy!

Meta-study shows: Personalized advertising saves the EU economy!

In a recently published study, Meta highlighted the significant economic impact of personalized advertising in Europe. According to the results, based on a model developed in collaboration with UC Berkeley and using Eurostat data, Meta's advertising services were linked to around 213 billion euros in economic activity and around 1.44 million jobs in the EU in 2024. Small businesses in particular, which make up 99% of EU companies, benefit significantly from these cost-effective advertising options. An example of this is the Dutch travel company “Eliza was here”, which increased its bookings by over 40% through Meta’s personalized ads and AI tools. These results highlight the potential that personalized advertising has for business development.

A key finding of the study is the high return that companies can achieve through targeted advertising on meta-platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. On average, every euro invested brings in sales of 3.98 euros. These figures are not only evidence-based, but also aim to shed light on the relevance of personalized online advertising for investment, innovation and employment in the European economy. Still, Meta warns about the potential negative impact of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which acts as a regulator for big tech companies and could potentially limit opportunities for personalized advertising.

The Digital Markets Act and its implications

The European Union's Digital Markets Act aims to support the EU's digital transformation and guarantee fair competition in the digital market. As a specific measure, it was designed to regulate large technology companies that act as “gatekeepers”. This could significantly influence the scope of action for platforms like Meta's and thus endanger the efficiency of advertising campaigns. Meta argues that such restrictions could harm not only growth but also competitiveness in the EU.

The DMA initiative is also aimed at young people aged 15 to 18 to promote understanding of the regulation of BigTech. Various materials, such as guidelines for the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in education, help teachers understand the potential and risks of these technologies. There are also support resources in 29 languages ​​to help teachers introduce programming and computational thinking.

Economic perspectives and global comparisons

The study results presented by Meta are in the context of a declining share of Europe in global economic output. Comparative figures show that GDP per capita in Europe is around $40,000, which is about half as much as in the United States. While in the US the use of personalized, AI-powered advertising technologies was linked to around $550 billion in economic activity and 3.4 million jobs in 2024, Europe offers significant opportunity for optimization. In the USA, the average revenue is $4.52 per advertising dollar spent.

In summary, the results of Meta’s study highlight the enormous impact and importance of personalized online advertising on the European economy. At the same time, however, these benefits are in tension with the new regulatory approaches of the Digital Markets Act, which could bring significant changes to the digital advertising ecosystem in the EU. The next steps in regulation will show whether and how these valuable resources can be preserved.