BIGDATR LAUNCHES COMPLIANCE PLATFORM FOR REGULATORS

Bigdatr has launched a compliance platform for regulators, expanding its advertising intelligence capabilities into consumer protection. The system monitors 1.2 million ads monthly, assessing them against codes and standards, and providing risk ratings. Regulators gain real‑time visibility, enabling earlier identification of issues and more efficient oversight across fragmented advertising markets.

Australian advertising intelligence company Bigdatr has unveiled a new compliance platform designed to support regulatory and self‑regulatory bodies in monitoring advertising activity across industries. The move marks a significant expansion of Bigdatr’s capabilities beyond competitor and market analysis, applying its monitoring infrastructure to consumer protection and regulatory oversight.  

Bigdatr’s system already collects more than 1.2 million pieces of advertising creative each month from around 54,000 brands. The new platform assesses each creative against industry codes, standards and regulatory requirements, giving regulators vastly increased visibility of advertising activity in real time.  

Managing Director Bernard Brkic said the platform addresses a growing challenge for regulators: “Regulators are telling us that they are drowning under the volume and complexity of advertising creative they need to monitor. And while the quantity has exploded in recent years, the tools available to many regulatory bodies have not kept pace. Bigdatr’s new platform provides regulators with a much clearer and more comprehensive view of the advertising material, allowing their teams to identify potential issues earlier and concentrate their expertise and judgment where it is most valuable.”  

The launch comes at a time when regulators face an increasingly fragmented advertising market across traditional, digital and social channels, making manual monitoring more difficult. Instead of relying solely on complaints or retrospective investigations, the platform enables regulators to identify emerging compliance risks earlier and focus resources on the advertisements most likely to require attention.  

Initially, the platform will monitor advertising across financial services, therapeutic goods, alcohol, gambling, consumer protection and broader advertising standards. However, it is designed to scale across any of the 75 industries tracked by Bigdatr. Each regulatory organisation can configure its own monitoring environment using relevant codes, sectors, media channels and risk indicators.  

Brkic emphasised that the platform is intended to complement existing processes: “We want to give compliance teams a stronger evidence base, better market coverage and a more efficient way to assess vast volumes of commercial material. This new platform complements existing processes for complaints and case management by giving regulators a market‑wide view of advertising activity. This helps them identify emerging issues and prioritise them based on severity, scale and potential impact.”  

Every advertisement assessed receives a preliminary risk rating, with relevant code provisions and reasons included for review. High‑risk ads may involve serious or direct code concerns, medium‑risk creative may require further interpretation, while low‑risk advertising remains visible without immediate intervention. The platform also provides a secure handover process, allowing advertisements of concern to be reviewed directly by regulators within 12 hours of publication.  

Brkic stressed that human oversight remains central: “This is not about technology making regulatory decisions. It’s about giving compliance teams a stronger evidence base, better market coverage and a more efficient way to assess large volumes of creative. Human oversight remains central to the process. With better visibility and more targeted assessment, the industry can support both responsible advertising and a healthy creative environment.”  

Bigdatr’s advertising compliance platform is now available to Australian regulatory and self‑regulatory organisations.