The impact of blockchain on the digital advertising ecosystem: Preliminary results of an exploratory analysis

The field of digital advertising has grown rapidly in recent years. The paper is a first attempt to explain how online advertising works in general, moving through the many types of digital advertising before exploring the ramifications that the GDPR has had since 2018, both for consumers and for the brands that collect data. Following a general explanation of how blockchain technology works, the technology's potential applications are quickly demonstrated. Specifically, the study shows how frauds could be reduced, increased protection, and the number of intermediaries per transaction halved, if not eliminated. The paper adopts a quantitative method by structural equation modelling, providing some preliminary results. The field research was conducted with a questionnaire useful to examine users' worries about providing/disclosing personal information over the Internet. At the end of the paper, some suggestions and implications are provided considering the questionnaire's results.