In order to make a consistent selection of top OSM providers per country, we used three sources of data: Alexa country ranks, Similarweb country ranks within the "Social Media" category, and APPlyzer ranking data collected from the Apple and Google app stores. A fourth source, Apptopia, was used...

The following section describes the results of the stakeholder survey with six types of relevant stakeholders: B2B clients (14), local intermediaries (13), global intermediaries (11), consumer organisations (3), advertisers' organisations (8), and academics (4). OSM providers were also contacted...

This executive summary presents the key objectives, methodology and findings of the behavioural study on advertising and marketing practices in online social media, which was carried out by a consortium led by GfK on behalf of the Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency (CHAFEA).

Participants to the research, most of them highly educated, are accustomed to marketing content on Online Social Media (OSM). They feel confident in distinguishing this content on OSM, especially on familiar platforms. However, unfamiliar platforms seem somewhat more of a challenge. Participants...

An in-depth, systematic review of the content on the most relevant OSM providers identified was conducted to build a typology of commercial practices in OSM, and to identify practices that could be misleading or unfair from a consumer perspective. The research was conducted from three...