The NAI Highlights Public Health Benefits of Digital Health Advertising, Enabling Policy Principles
As federal and state lawmakers deliberate on strategies to safeguard consumer information, health-related data remains a central priority. To support these discussions, the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) has introduced Benefits of Digital Health Advertising, a comprehensive platform presenting evidence on how digital health advertising enhances public health outcomes and equity, while emphasizing the critical role of thoughtful public policy and industry governance in mitigating potential privacy risks.
This new website is focused on a central often-overlooked point: responsible digital health advertising is essential because it informs people about health products, services, and behaviors that matter to them, pointing to numerous cases where public health organizations rely on it to reach people at scale.
The site is organized into three parts. How It Works explains what digital health advertising is. What the Data Shows compiles measured outcomes from public health campaigns. Protecting Privacy sets out four recommendations for policymakers and the NAI’s self-regulatory approach.
What the Data Shows
The heart of the site is a searchable compilation of more than 60 measured findings from public health campaigns run by federal agencies, leading nonprofits, and healthcare organizations, organized across ten health areas. The common themes of the research include: an enhanced ability to reach underserved populations, an overall increase in patient engagement, and a dramatic rise in treatment and improved health outcomes. A snapshot of four federal campaigns shows the scale of the results:
| Campaign | Measured result | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Tips From Former Smokers CDC | 129,000 early deaths prevented (2012–2018); about $7.3 billion in healthcare and related costs saved | CDC campaign impact and results |
| We Can Do This (COVID-19 vaccination) HHS | 51,000 lives saved in year one; nearly 244,000 fewer hospitalizations; about $90 in healthcare savings per dollar spent | Turner et al., American Journal of Preventive Medicine (2024) |
| The Real Cost (youth tobacco prevention) FDA | $180 in reduced healthcare costs per $1 over the first two years; an estimated 450,000 young people kept from starting e-cigarettes in 2023–2024 | FDA announcement (2025); MacMonegle et al., American Journal of Preventive Medicine (2025) |
| We Can Do This (vaccination among Black participants) HHS | First-dose vaccination rose from 30% at campaign start to nearly 80% by its end, helping narrow disparities | Luchman, Health Promotion Practice (2023) |
Policy Recommendations & the Role of Self-Regulation
A core goal of this website is to promote public policies that balance consumer data privacy protections with the goal to preserve these tangible benefits, particularly with underserved communities that are the hardest to reach. Therefore, a section of this resource draws from the NAI’s self-regulatory expertise to identify concrete recommendations for policymakers. While the lack of a strong public policy framework leaves consumers under-protected, overly restrictive policies reduce the reach and effectiveness of beneficial health campaigns.
Recommendations for policymakers. No single measure works as the sole mechanism for privacy protection, so the NAI recommends that policymakers pursue all four together:
- A thoughtful definition of sensitive personal information. Draw the line around data that is actually tied to a person’s health, so that ordinary demographic data used for public health messaging is not swept in with it.
- Promoting de-identification where possible. Encourage pseudonymized or de-identified data so that personal data is used only to the extent a campaign requires.
- Strong data minimization standards. Set enforceable limits on purpose and retention, without blanket bans that foreclose benefits people have consented to.
- An effective consent framework. Require consumer authorization where data is truly sensitive, as in point-of-care messaging, where patients already authorize the use of their data.
Taken together, these recommendations target the data practices that create privacy risk and leave in place the advertising that delivers measurable public health results.
The NAI’s self-regulatory framework (NAI Framework). NAI members must adhere to the NAI Framework, which has three components: Principles for Privacy in Network Advertising that all members must meet, standards of review for each principle, and privacy guidance, tools, and best practices. Every member also takes part in the annual Privacy Review Program, which begins with a questionnaire on the member’s technologies, products, and privacy policies and is followed by an interview with NAI staff. This virtuous cycle of self-regulation leads to the development of industry best practices and data governance resources for the digital advertising industry to maximize privacy protections while retaining the benefits of digital advertising.
How Digital Health Advertising Works
The website also explains the types of digital health advertising that are used to improve health outcomes by getting useful information to the people for whom it matters most. There are four broad kinds of digital health advertising (1) medications and treatments (including vaccinations), (2) medical services, (3) health products such as vitamins and supplements, and (4) healthy lifestyle products. Americans encounter this advertising in two very different settings:
- Passive: in everyday media. Most people see health advertising on television, streaming services, social media, and other online platforms. Healthcare and pharmaceutical companies as well as federal agencies, nonprofits, and medical associations use those channels. The data used to deliver these ads is demographic and other consumer data, which is generally not considered sensitive under U.S. privacy law.
- Active: at the point of care. Other messages appear in waiting rooms, digital check-in devices, and patient portals at clinics, hospitals, pharmacies, and telehealth visits. Patients authorize the use of their data for this messaging, and the messages are meant to start a conversation with a clinician, not replace one. Because this data is tied to a person’s health, it is often sensitive under U.S. privacy law and calls for consumer authorization, strong data minimization and retention standards, and pseudonymized data where practical.
Both settings use data to make ads more relevant, but they differ in the type of data involved, the privacy obligations that follow, and often the campaigns themselves. Outcomes vary across various settings and campaigns, which is why we have highlighted the underlying evaluations and not just the headlines.
Explore the site
Policymakers and staff can explore the full evidence base at WhyDigitalAdvertising.org, download the white paper, and reach the NAI at media@thenai.org. The NAI welcomes the chance to work with lawmakers on privacy protections that safeguard sensitive health information while preserving the public health benefits documented here.