WASHINGTON, D.C. – April 3, 2025 — Today, with the support of Check My Ads Institute, Vermont state Representative Monique Priestley introduced the Building Better Online Businesses Act (H. 390) before the House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development.
If enacted, the bill would put a stop to the self-dealing and abuse plaguing the adtech sector. By reinvigorating competition and establishing robust new transparency standards, it would empower advertisers to make smarter, more informed decisions—and ensure they get the most value from their advertising investments.
Research suggests that more than 50% of every ad dollar never reaches the publisher—lost in a maze of opaque intermediaries. A single ad impression can pass through up to 20 vendors, each taking a cut. Meanwhile, advertisers continue to struggle to gain access to detailed information about where their own ads appear, and what their ad dollars fund. This is not innovation. This is exploitation.
The BBOB Act would:
- Place Limits on Common Ownership: This would prevent a single company from controlling both sides of the digital advertising marketplace.
- Establish a Duty of Care for AdTech Brokers: Adtech vendors would be required to act in the interests of the advertiser and publisher clients they serve.
- Require Know Your Customer (KYC) Rules: The financial sector has long been required to verify who it does business with to prevent fraud and money laundering. AdTech brokers would be held to the same standard.
- Mandate Transparency: All AdTech brokers would be required to provide full Page URL and log-level transparency so that advertisers can actually check their ads.
“The opacity and self-dealing of adtech companies doesn’t just hurt the big brands whose ad budgets are lost to fraud and waste. This work is about about creating a better internet for everyone,” said Policy Director, Sarah Kay Wiley. “Whether you’re a small business trying to reach your audience or a news publisher trying to survive, this legislation is your fight too. We applaud Representative Priestly’s leadership in trailblazing more fair digital market for Vermont businesses and consumers.”
Watch the BBOB Act introduction
Read the Fact Sheet
About Check My Ads Institute
Check My Ads Institute, the digital advertising watchdog, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit established in 2021 to build a better internet business model for advertisers, publishers and people. We shine a light on the opaque global advertising technology industry, which has enabled systemic manipulation and fraud, through unfettered access to its vast infrastructure: ads, advertiser budgets and our own intimate personal information. The unregulated transfer of power takes place largely outside the view of advertisers, regulators, and citizens. Check My Ads is pushing for accountability in the digital advertising industry through consumer-informed, free-market solutions and common-sense state, federal, and international regulation. We believe that advertisers and the public deserve transparency and choice.