Back in spring 2011 it looked like many of the established online building blocks being used by businesses had been somewhat overlooked or perhaps their technical and economic relevance underestimated.

Since then the authorities have reassured us that there has never an intention to cause economic damage – rather a determination and commitment to do more to protect consumers. In practical terms working out precisely what to do has been a challenge for Merchants and online publishers more generally.

Most feel glad to have had the chance to define their own plans, even if it felt like an inherently uncertain process. Industry collaboration has emerged again as a means of arriving at consistent workable solution that may not be “definitive” come May 26^th but will certainly be a long way towards achieving the goals of the Regulation.

We will know a lot more in Q3 & 4 what the rules have really meant for the industry. It’s likely to be the case that consumers will get a great deal more transparency and protection online but it will be achieved in a way that means we will still be able to measure, control and cost our businesses.