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Follow The Money: Online Piracy and Self-Regulation in the Advertising Industry

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Listed:
  • Michail Batikas
  • Jörg Claussen
  • Christian Peukert

Abstract

In this paper, we study the effects of a self-regulatory effort, orchestrated by the European Commission, that aims to reduce advertising revenues for publishers of copyright infringing content. Historical data lets us follow how the third-party advertising and tracking services associated with a large number of piracy websites and a corresponding set of legitimate “placebo” websites change after the agreement to self-regulate went in place. We find that larger EU-based advertisers comply with the initiative and reduce their connections with piracy websites. We do not find reductions for other non-advertising services that track consumers, which has potentially important implications for the efficiency of targeted advertising.

Suggested Citation

  • Michail Batikas & Jörg Claussen & Christian Peukert, 2018. "Follow The Money: Online Piracy and Self-Regulation in the Advertising Industry," CESifo Working Paper Series 6852, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_6852
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    Cited by:

    1. Yassine Lefouili & Leonardo Madio, 2022. "The economics of platform liability," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 53(3), pages 319-351, June.
    2. Milan Miric & Lars Bo Jeppesen, 2020. "Does piracy lead to product abandonment or stimulate new product development?: Evidence from mobile platform‐based developer firms," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(12), pages 2155-2184, December.
    3. Christian Peukert, 2019. "The next wave of digital technological change and the cultural industries," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 43(2), pages 189-210, June.
    4. Kretschmer, Tobias & Peukert, Christian & Bechtold, Stefan & Batikas, Michail, 2020. "European Privacy Law and Global Markets for Data," CEPR Discussion Papers 14475, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    5. Christian Peukert & Margaritha Windisch, 2023. "The Economics of Copyright in the Digital Age," CESifo Working Paper Series 10687, CESifo.
    6. Marc Bourreau & Marianne Lumeau & Francois Moreau & Jordana Viotto da Cruz, 2019. "Recent or Free? An Experimental Study of the Motivations for Pirating Movies," CESifo Working Paper Series 8036, CESifo.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    piracy; copyright enforcement; online advertising; natural experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • K40 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - General
    • L50 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - General
    • L80 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - General

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