Before the first ad, not after the last
The best time to set up your transparency notice workflow is before your first political advertisement goes live. Regulation (EU) 2024/900 requires a transparency notice to be available from the moment an ad is published. If you wait until the campaign is in full swing, you risk publishing ads without the required notices in place.
Recommended timeline
Four weeks before campaign start
Set up your organization and team. Create your organization on The Taurus, invite team members, and assign roles. Decide who will be responsible for creating and approving transparency notices -- this is especially important for larger campaigns with multiple people placing ads.
Create your campaign. Set up a campaign with the election or initiative it relates to, the expected time period, and the reporting currency. This gives you a container for all notices and automatic aggregate cost tracking from day one.
Two weeks before campaign start
Create a template notice. Fill out one complete notice with your standard sponsor information, typical targeting approach, and payment structure. You do not need to publish it -- use it as a reference so that future notices can be created quickly by copying the pattern.
Test the workflow. Walk through the full wizard once to understand what information you will need for each ad. This helps you identify any data you need to collect from designers, media buyers, or campaign managers before the campaign starts.
Campaign launch
Create notices as you place ads. For each new advertisement, create a transparency notice immediately. If you set up your organization and campaign in advance, each new notice takes only a few minutes -- most fields carry over from your sponsor profile and campaign settings.
Keep costs updated. If your final costs differ from initial estimates, update the notice. The revision history tracks every change, providing a complete audit trail.
After the election
Review and close out. Check that every ad has a corresponding notice. Review aggregate campaign costs for accuracy. Your compliance profile on The Taurus will show your complete transparency record.
What if I am already mid-campaign?
Start now. Create your organization, set up the campaign, and begin documenting your ads. For any ads that were already placed without a notice, create them retroactively -- the platform fully supports past dates. Getting partial coverage today is better than waiting for a perfect moment that may not come.
Who should be involved?
At minimum, you need one person who can provide the required information for each notice:
- Sponsor details -- name, address, contact information of the political entity
- Payer details -- who is paying for each ad, if different from the sponsor
- Placement details -- where and when each ad runs
- Cost information -- how much each ad costs
For small campaigns, one person can handle everything. For larger operations, consider assigning a compliance coordinator who tracks which ads need notices and follows up with team members for missing information.