DSA Compliance Is a Daily Ritual

Field Notes

The Digital Services Act (DSA) is fully live. It forces Very Large Online Platforms to reveal how ads are targeted, offer algorithm controls, and grant vetted researchers access to backend data. That matters because your marketing, community building and even data gathering sit on those rails. Ignore the DSA and you’ll wake up to sudden ad rejections or content throttling you can’t explain.

Signal Check

• Users can now toggle recommender systems off. Expect engagement dips unless your content earns attention organically.
• Researchers will probe disinformation, shadow bans and algorithmic biases. If you publish misleading claims, expect receipts.
• Ad archives list every targeting parameter. Competitors (and clients) can see if you promised one thing and delivered another.

Marketing Pulse

Design for transparency. Assume every ad will live forever in an archive. Use the Personal Business Trainer to log targeting logic, creative rationale and landing-page promises. Align them so nothing feels bait-and-switch. Encourage audiences to toggle algorithm controls and still choose you—that’s the ultimate trust test.

Operations Flow

Document platform dependencies. Note which campaigns rely on lookalike audiences or interest targeting that may disappear. Build first-party data capture flows (newsletters, communities, Dawn Patrol) so you can survive if a platform nerfs your reach. Train the team to respond quickly to DSA takedown notices—speed matters.

Innovation Muscle

Turn transparency into a product. Offer clients “Ad Honesty Audits” where you review their targeting, claims and data flows against DSA expectations. Build a template in the trainer and record anonymized learnings for future content.

Experiments for this week

1. Review your last 20 ads in the platform archive. Note patterns you’re proud of and ones you’d cringe at during a compliance review. Fix the latter.
2. Create a public “Recommender Off” playlist—content designed to win without algorithmic boost. Challenge your audience to switch the algo off for a week.
3. Pitch a Dawn Patrol episode with a policy researcher. Translate their findings into founder-friendly experiments so your community stays ahead.