Advertising has always competed for attention, but where does engagement end and addiction begin? Jake Dubbins, Co-Chair of the Conscious Advertising Network (CAN), argues that greater transparency and accountability are essential to reshaping the digital ecosystem.

Advertising has always been built on attention.

For decades, our industry has focused on reaching the right people, in the right place, at the right time. We’ve celebrated scale, we’ve celebrated engagement and we’ve celebrated effectiveness. But as digital platforms continue to reshape daily life, and following a landmark US jury verdict that found Meta and Google had intentionally built addictive social media platforms, there's a question our industry urgently needs to ask itself:

What happens when the pursuit of attention becomes the pursuit of addiction?

It’s an uncomfortable question. But it’s a question the advertising industry can no longer afford to ignore.

Age limits are not the whole answer

The recent debate around a social media ban for under-16s has brought renewed focus to online safety. While age-based restrictions may help limit access, they also risk focusing on symptoms rather than causes. The more fundamental issue is not just who can access platforms, but how those platforms are designed.

What actually changes when a child turns 16? Do they suddenly become immune to recommendation systems engineered to maximise attention and engagement? What changes for vulnerable adults? And what changes for the wider digital ecosystem that continues to monetise legal but potentially harmful content?

These are the questions we have to be asking.

This is a story about incentives

The tragedy of Molly Russell's death remains one of the clearest reminders of the human consequences of platform design. The inquest into Molly's death exposed how recommendation systems can amplify harmful content, creating experiences that no parent would knowingly choose for their child.

Importantly, this is not simply a story about content but a story about incentives.

Many major platforms have measured success through metrics such as time spent, watch time, repeat visits and engagement. If the primary objective is to maximise engagement, and recommendation systems take a content-agnostic approach, then the system does not necessarily distinguish between content that informs, entertains or inspires and content that harms. The goal is attention. And so, the content is often secondary.

This should be a huge concern to everyone in our industry.

The challenge isn’t limited to social media either. As AI-powered platforms and advertising-funded chatbots become increasingly integrated into everyday life, we have to ask similar questions about the incentives shaping those systems. If revenue depends on keeping users engaged for longer, what behaviours are being rewarded? Are these technologies designed to help people achieve their goals and move on with their lives, or to keep them coming back for more? These aren’t anti-tech questions, but accountability ones.

Transparency is the foundation of accountability and effectiveness

For too long, the digital advertising ecosystem has operated with insufficient transparency. Advertisers, policymakers and civil society organisations often lack visibility into which content, creators, channels, recommendation systems and emerging AI surfaces are being monetised.

Without transparency, there can be no meaningful accountability. In an opaque system, advertisers cannot take true responsibility for the environments they fund or make fully informed decisions that drive both effectiveness and align with their values. CMOs and CFOs need to move beyond the fear of finding out (FOFO), demand greater transparency and, to borrow a well-worn phrase, take back control of their supply chains.

Without that visibility, public debate becomes trapped in a cycle of reacting to harms after they have occurred instead of preventing them in the first place.

That's why transparency is no longer a "nice-to-have". It's the foundation of a healthier, more accountable digital ecosystem.

Where money flows, behaviour follows

The solution cannot come from advertisers alone. And it won’t come from platforms, regulators or civil society acting independently either. Meaningful change requires collaboration across the entire ecosystem. But advertising remains one of the most powerful levers available because advertising revenue shapes incentives.

Where money flows, behaviour follows.

The headline Hexagon Stage session, from last week's MAD//Fest, Molly vs The Machines: What should the Industry do next? will be reviewed in MAD//Amplified in two week's time.