AMERICA Act

Summary#

The AMERICA Act adds a new section to the Clayton Act that focuses on the sale and purchase of digital advertising. It defines terms such as digital advertising exchange, buy-side brokerage, sell-side brokerage, and digital advertising revenue. The bill bars very large digital-ad firms (those with more than $20,000,000,000 in digital advertising revenue in a prior year, adjusted yearly) from combining certain roles: for example, owning an exchange while also operating a buy-side or sell-side brokerage or being a buyer or seller of ad space. For firms with more than $5,000,000,000 in digital advertising revenue (adjusted yearly), the bill imposes duties on brokerages: a best-interest duty to act for brokerage customers, a best-execution duty to seek the most favorable terms, and transparency rules requiring brokerages to provide detailed transaction records to customers on request. The bill sets record-retention periods, requires brokerages to anonymize user data when providing information, requires firewalls and fair access on exchanges, mandates time synchronization of business clocks within 2 milliseconds, and states that order records belong to the brokerage customer. The bill also requires quarterly public reports on routing practices, annual certification of compliance to the Attorney General, and a divestiture process overseen by the Attorney General. Enforcement includes civil actions by the Attorney General and state attorneys general, creation of an Antitrust Consumer Damages Fund to hold recovered amounts, and a private right of action for brokerage customers harmed by knowing violations by very large firms with specified damages or actual damages and attorneys’ fees. The bill lists limited exceptions and directs the Attorney General to issue guidance on divestitures and certifications.

What it means for you#

• Large digital-ad companies: If your company meets the revenue thresholds, the bill could require you to stop owning combinations of exchanges, brokerages, or buyer/seller roles and to file and complete required divestitures under Attorney General review.
• Brokerages with large revenue: Must follow duties to act in customers’ best interests, seek best execution, keep and provide detailed records on request, maintain firewalls, synchronize clocks, and publish routing reports.
• Brokerage customers (advertisers and publishers): Can request transaction records to verify compliance, and in some cases sue for knowing violations by very large firms. Records and bids solicited on a customer’s behalf remain that customer’s property.
• Users and data privacy: When brokerages provide information to customers, the bill requires anonymizing or hashing user-identifying data to the extent possible consistent with the bill’s verification purpose.

Expenses#

No publicly available information on estimated costs, budgetary effects, or required appropriations in the bill text.

Proponents' View#

The bill text states its purpose is to prevent conflicts of interest and promote competition in the sale and purchase of digital advertising, and to increase transparency and accountability in digital ad markets.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information on opposition views or critiques in the bill text or provided metadata.