August 24, 2026 Melbourne
Bigdatr has launched an advertising compliance platform for Australian regulatory and self-regulatory bodies. The system is designed to review advertising material across multiple sectors.
The platform applies code and standards checks to advertising creative collected through our existing monitoring network. Material flagged as a concern is surfaced to compliance teams within 12 hours of publication.
Bigdatr’s core business is competitor and market analysis in advertising. The new product extends that work into compliance monitoring and consumer protection as regulators deal with a growing volume of material across traditional, digital and social channels.
Bigdatr collects more than 1.2 million pieces of advertising creative each month from about 54,000 Australian brands. The compliance platform reviews that material against industry codes, standards and regulatory requirements, assigning an initial risk rating to each item.
High-risk advertisements are those that may involve a direct or serious code breach. Medium-risk material is that which requires further interpretation or additional context. Low-risk advertisements remain visible in the system without requiring immediate action.
The platform is built for sectors that typically attract close scrutiny, including financial services, therapeutic goods, alcohol and gambling, as well as broader issues in consumer protection and advertising standards. It can be configured for each regulatory organisation to reflect the codes, sectors, media channels and risk indicators within its remit.
Coverage can extend across the 75 industries Bigdatr already tracks. Globally, we monitor more than 95,000 brands and provide daily updates and historical records using our own ad-recognition and machine learning tools.
Advertising compliance market challenges
The launch comes against the backdrop of a fragmented advertising market in which regulators often rely on complaints, selective monitoring or retrospective investigations. In sectors such as alcohol, gambling, finance and health-related products, the speed and scale of campaign deployment can make manual review difficult.
Advertising compliance has become harder as brands roll out campaigns across broadcast, online video, social media, display advertising and other digital formats. That can leave regulators with incomplete visibility of what consumers are seeing and when they are seeing it.
Earlier identification of potentially problematic advertising helps agencies focus staff on the material most likely to require intervention. The platform is designed to support, rather than replace, existing complaints and case management processes.
Bernard Brkic, Managing Director of Bigdatr, described the strain facing compliance teams.
“Regulators are telling us that they are drowning under the volume and complexity of advertising creative they need to monitor. 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 advertising material, allowing their teams to identify potential issues earlier and concentrate their expertise and judgment where it is most valuable.”
Bernard Brkic, Managing Director at Bigdatr
How it works
That process leaves the formal compliance judgment with the regulator. Human oversight remains central, with the platform serving as a filtering and monitoring tool rather than an automated decision-maker.
Once an advertisement has been assessed, the platform assigns a preliminary risk rating and links that assessment to the relevant code provisions and reasons for review. Regulators can then examine the material directly and decide whether further action is needed.
Brkic said the platform is built to sit alongside the regulatory workflows already in place.
“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.”
The boundary between evidence and judgment is a deliberate part of the design.
“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,” Brkic said.
Availability
The compliance platform is available now to Australian regulatory and self-regulatory organisations, with financial services, therapeutic goods, alcohol and gambling among its initial areas of focus.
To see the platform configured to your codes, sectors and risk indicators, request a walkthrough with our team or contact us at success@bigdatr.com
About this update:
Founded in Melbourne in 2012, Bigdatr provides advertising intelligence to marketers seeking information on competitor spend, investment and creative activity. More than 150 organisations worldwide use our services.
