Washington – Florida senators are scheduled to hear testimony Monday on legislation that would make it more difficult for businesses and nonprofits to reach local audiences with lower cost ad campaigns. Nine organizations representing automotive, health care, payment card, retail, technology, telecom industries and various Florida Hispanic-owned businesses have signed a letter to lawmakers saying that while they support protecting consumer privacy, they oppose current legislation, SB 262.
The letter notes that SB 262 “would fall short in providing consumers with meaningful privacy protections” and restrict advertising practices that dramatically reduce costs through automation that allow businesses to reach local Florida consumers at lower costs than other forms of advertising. The letter says digital advertising is an increasingly popular option for smaller and local businesses, and cites a study that showed that small businesses saw savings of nearly $163 billion, annually, by using online ads.
The following can be attributed to CCIA State Policy Director Khara Boender:
“There are more effective ways for lawmakers to reach the goal of more transparency about online ads without negatively impacting the method many smaller local businesses and nonprofit organizations rely on to reach key audiences. Free and lower cost services are available to consumers because of current online ad mechanisms and those would be at risk too with this particular legislative approach. We would look forward to working with lawmakers on legislation to achieve their goals with less collateral damage.”