Download this invitation to pilot new corporate standards tackling inequality and advancing equity.

We have audited the accompanying consolidated financial statements of PolicyLink and PolicyLink Equity Action Network, which comprise the consolidated statement of financial position as of December 31, 2022, and the related consolidated statements of activities, functional expenses, and cash flows for the year then ended and the related notes to the consolidated financial statements.

Author: Danaë Metaxa (University of Pennsylvania) 

This white paper examines the digital advertising ecosystem, with a particular focus on social inequality. It begins in Section 1 by introducing the concept of a sociotechnical system and the challenges of studying such systems empirically: these systems are dynamic, their data are ephemeral, they are embedded deeply in people’s everyday lives, and they are highly personalized. Next, Section 2 introduces the reader to digital advertising, beginning with a brief history of advertising before the digital era and continuing to explain the technical infrastructure that underlies this ecosystem. Section 3 then delves into bias and discrimination in digital ads on both a theoretical level (legal context and types of bias) and a summarization of work that has empirically studied discrimination in digital ads. Finally, Section 4 concludes by discussing why these issues persist and how we might change them—from better research to law and policy.