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Digital Markets Act and Its Impact on the Digital Landscape
What is the Digital Market Act?
At Localistico, we understand how important it is for our clients to feel prepared and at ease in the fast-changing digital world. The Digital Markets Act (DMA) is a new set of rules intended to change how things work online. Through this blog post, our goal is to give you all the information you need in a simple way, as well as give you tips to get ready for this transition. We welcome you to keep on reading!
1— What is the Digital Market Act?
The Digital Markets Act (DMA) is a regulation targeting the market influence of the world’s leading technology companies. Its primary objective is to make it simpler for people to switch between competing services, such as social media platforms, internet browsers, and app stores.
In essence, it aims to tackle the monopoly of GAFAM (Google; Apple; Facebook (Meta); Amazon; and Microsoft), described as “access controllers”, to promote fairness and competitiveness within the digital sector and e-commerce.
2— How will they do this?
As mentioned above, the DMA introduces several critical changes to promote fairness and user protection in the digital landscape, such as:
- Facilitating seamless interaction between various services and platforms, ensuring greater fairness and competition.
- Enhancing protection of users’ personal data by requiring explicit consent for targeted advertising and preventing cross-platform data usage.
- Promoting user freedom of choice by enabling the use of alternative platforms and prohibiting unfair pre-installation practices for applications.
- Recommendations for Google Business Profiles.
3— When will it take place?
The Digital Markets Act (DMA) came into force on 1st November 2022. The majority of its regulations took effect in May 2023, while the appointment of gatekeepers was official on 6th September 2023. These gatekeepers must adhere to the DMA by 6th March 2024.
4— What does it mean for Google Business Profiles?
The Digital Markets Act has been creating a stir in the world of digital markets, sparking discussions about its implications for Google Business Profiles and the future of digital monopolies. However, despite the upcoming changes, Google Business Profiles are expected to remain a valuable channel. We can expect a slight decrease in visibility to rebalance the power dynamics, but as with everything, there’s always a silver lining: local web pages with a Store Locator in them should expect a significant booth in traffic.
5— How can you make sure you are prepared for the upcoming changes?
To be ready for the DMA, here’s a list of recommendations to prepare for the upcoming changes and make sure that in March 2024 your business is visible and ready to be shown on other platforms aside from Google:
- Focus on optimizing your current Google Business Profiles to maintain visibility and engagement (upload pictures, post your news and offers, communicate your store services or restaurant menu).
- Diversify your online presence beyond Google to platforms like Apple Maps, Facebook, and Bing, since as mentioned above, it is likely that from March 2024 onwards Google will have to show some other platforms’ profiles within their results.
- Prioritize the development of your own channels. For instance, having user-friendly local web pages will not only boost your store visibility but also grant you full control over the information you want to showcase. Additionally, the creation of a Store Locator will significantly enhance the visibility of your owned channels.
6. How can Localistico assist you?
We enable you to have automatic updates for your business profiles across major search platforms such as Facebook, Bing, or Apple. Moreover, our capability to create a Store Locator and pages for your website will help you take advantage of the anticipated increase in traffic. This ensures you’ll be fully prepared for what’s coming next March and leverage the benefits of omnichannel marketing.
If you have any questions or need additional information regarding this topic, please feel free to contact us.