Understanding every transparency notice required field under EU Regulation 2024/900 is essential for anyone sponsoring or publishing political advertising. Article 9 specifies more than 15 mandatory data points that must appear in each notice. Missing even one can mean the notice is incomplete — and an incomplete notice is treated as no notice at all.
Why Art. 9 Demands So Much Data
The regulation's transparency framework is built on the principle that citizens should be able to answer three questions about any political ad they encounter: Who paid for this? Why am I seeing it? And who is responsible for the content?
To answer those questions, Art. 9 requires a structured set of fields covering the identity of the sponsor, the financing behind the ad, the targeting criteria used, and the publication context. Below is a complete breakdown.
Sponsor Identification Fields
Sponsor Name and Contact
The legal name of the sponsor — the entity that decided to place the ad — must be stated in full. This is not a brand name or campaign slogan; it is the registered name of the person, party, or organisation. Contact details (address, email, or equivalent) are also required so that citizens and authorities can reach the sponsor.
Sponsor Type
The regulation distinguishes between natural persons, legal entities, parties, and other organisations. The sponsor type must be declared because different rules apply to different categories — for instance, foreign sponsors face additional restrictions.
Sponsor Registration Information
Where applicable, the sponsor's registration number or identifier in their home jurisdiction must be provided. For parties, this typically means their national party register number.
Financial Transparency Fields
Payer Identity
If someone other than the sponsor paid for the ad, the payer must be identified separately. This covers situations where a third party finances a campaign on behalf of a candidate or cause.
Payment Amount or Range
The amount spent on the specific advertisement, or a range bracket, must be disclosed. This applies per ad placement, not per campaign — so a single campaign with five placements requires five disclosures.
Payment Date
The date on which payment was made or committed. This establishes the financial timeline and helps authorities trace funding flows.
Ad Content and Context Fields
Ad Title or Description
A human-readable title or description of the advertisement. This allows the notice to be identified and searched in public repositories without needing to view the ad itself.
Publication Period
The start and end dates during which the ad is or was displayed. For print ads, this might be a single publication date. For digital campaigns, it covers the full flight period.
Territory
The Member State or States where the ad is being distributed. A pan-European campaign must list every country of distribution.
Language
The language or languages in which the ad is presented.
Publisher Information
The name and contact details of the publisher or platform carrying the ad. In digital contexts, this means the platform name and its registered details. For print, it means the newspaper or magazine.
Targeting and Distribution Fields
Targeting Criteria
For online advertising, the targeting criteria used to select the audience must be disclosed. This includes demographic targeting (age, gender, location), interest-based targeting, contextual targeting, and any use of custom or lookalike audiences. Art. 9(1)(g) is explicit: all criteria that determine who sees the ad must be stated.
Distribution Method
How the ad reaches its audience — programmatic placement, direct booking, physical distribution, broadcast schedule, or other means.
Estimated Reach
Where available, the estimated number of people the ad is expected to reach. Platforms typically provide this data to advertisers, and it must be passed through to the notice.
Data Controller Fields
Controller Identity
The identity of the data controller responsible for personal data used in targeting. This is a GDPR-adjacent requirement that connects ad transparency to data protection.
Contact for Data Subjects
A contact point where individuals can exercise their data protection rights in relation to the ad's targeting.
How the Taurus Wizard Maps to Art. 9
Filling in 15+ fields manually — and getting the format right for regulatory submission — is where most compliance efforts break down. The Taurus transparency notice wizard maps each Art. 9 requirement to a clearly labelled form step. You enter your sponsor details once; they auto-populate across all future notices. Targeting criteria are structured as selectable options rather than free text, reducing errors. Payment fields include range brackets that match the regulation's disclosure tiers.
The result is a notice that is complete by construction. The wizard will not let you publish a notice with missing mandatory fields, which means you cannot accidentally submit an incomplete disclosure.
Start Building Your First Notice
If you are a candidate preparing for an upcoming election, the most efficient approach is to create your first notice now, before campaign season pressure makes compliance an afterthought. Register for a free account and complete the wizard in under 10 minutes — every Art. 9 field, handled in one pass.