EU Digital Omnibus, art 88B GDPR & Tech reality
1 Jul 2026
The EU DigitalOmnibus is dividing everyone. One debate & discord emerges from Article 88b, the provision that aims at replacing endless cookie banners with a browser-level consent signal.
By fear of the economic impact it might have on the digital ecosystem revenues, specifically for media companies, the Council removed it from its 18 June draft . The Parliament's position will be taken after the drafting of an impact assessment due for Q4 2026. Of course, the estimated €40 to 50 billion in programmatic ad revenue flows through consent signals is at stake but what the debate is missing is:
1. Article 88b is not about killing personalisation. It is about making part of it human-controlled.
The proposed architecture is often framed as a uber-"reject all" button . That is a misunderstanding. Under Article 88b, users retain the ability to grant consent per website or brands, per purpose and for certain time periods. It simply gives them a choice architecture that is transparent, informed, and based on "self-targeting" (e.g. I decide online who I want to be targeted by, for which purposes and timing) rather than tracking.
2. Article 88b is not "the end of cookies": it is an alternative economic model based on an alternative Tech infrastructure.
Recent empirical studies show that well-designed consent agents can increase consent rates by up to 20% compared to current cookie banners. Meaning that, if deployed progressively, humanly controlled personalisation brings additional revenues (expanded TAM). The Commission's proposal maps this progressive approach with exceptions and is not a threat to ad-funded media. It just triggers another way to frame targeting, articulated around human control and #sustainability.
3. Article 88b promotes a consent-agent infrastructure that is:
- Interoperable (it works with any browser, CMP, or platform),
- User-centric(it is designed for informed choice, not dark patterns),
- Business-friendly (it enables granular consent that preserves the economics of personalisation through another level that might be called "self-targeting", and that ID Side keeps operationalising with brand new APIs and SDKs).
Article 88b is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to move Europe beyond banner fatigue and toward a digital ecosystem where trust and personalisation co-exist on the long run. But most of all beyond an environmentally and ethically unsustainable 24/7 tracking and targeting.
As the trilogue negotiations approach, we keep running conversations with policymakers, publishers, and AdTech leaders on how we can help build this future.
By fear of the economic impact it might have on the digital ecosystem revenues, specifically for media companies, the Council removed it from its 18 June draft . The Parliament's position will be taken after the drafting of an impact assessment due for Q4 2026. Of course, the estimated €40 to 50 billion in programmatic ad revenue flows through consent signals is at stake but what the debate is missing is:
1. Article 88b is not about killing personalisation. It is about making part of it human-controlled.
The proposed architecture is often framed as a uber-"reject all" button . That is a misunderstanding. Under Article 88b, users retain the ability to grant consent per website or brands, per purpose and for certain time periods. It simply gives them a choice architecture that is transparent, informed, and based on "self-targeting" (e.g. I decide online who I want to be targeted by, for which purposes and timing) rather than tracking.
2. Article 88b is not "the end of cookies": it is an alternative economic model based on an alternative Tech infrastructure.
Recent empirical studies show that well-designed consent agents can increase consent rates by up to 20% compared to current cookie banners. Meaning that, if deployed progressively, humanly controlled personalisation brings additional revenues (expanded TAM). The Commission's proposal maps this progressive approach with exceptions and is not a threat to ad-funded media. It just triggers another way to frame targeting, articulated around human control and #sustainability.
3. Article 88b promotes a consent-agent infrastructure that is:
- Interoperable (it works with any browser, CMP, or platform),
- User-centric(it is designed for informed choice, not dark patterns),
- Business-friendly (it enables granular consent that preserves the economics of personalisation through another level that might be called "self-targeting", and that ID Side keeps operationalising with brand new APIs and SDKs).
Article 88b is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to move Europe beyond banner fatigue and toward a digital ecosystem where trust and personalisation co-exist on the long run. But most of all beyond an environmentally and ethically unsustainable 24/7 tracking and targeting.
As the trilogue negotiations approach, we keep running conversations with policymakers, publishers, and AdTech leaders on how we can help build this future.