← Back to opportunities

Project_4850 Research - Potentially harmful OCA online practices

Department for Business and Trade

Buyer Contact Info

Buyer Name: Department for Business and Trade

Buyer Address: Old Admiralty Building, Whitehall, London, SW1A 2DY, England

Contact Name: Department for Business and Trade

Contact Email: CommercialResearchandConsultancy@businessandtrade.gov.uk

Status
complete
Procedure
selective
Value
79925.0 GBP
Published
12 Aug 2025, 13:19
Deadline
03 Jun 2025, 13:00
Contract Start
30 Jul 2025, 23:00
Contract End
31 Jan 2026, 23:59
Category
services
CPV
73200000 - Research and development consultancy services
Region
n/a
Awarded To
Revealing Reality
Official Source
Open Contracts Finder

Description

A study to provide foundational evidence to DBT's policy teams on the nature and extent of potentially harmful OCA practices employed by a selected sample of digital platforms. This evidence is crucial for subsequently developing appropriate regulatory responses and interventions to safeguard the interests of consumers and promote fair competition in online markets. The goods or services procured through this contract will be used by the Department for Business and Trade to: 1. Identify the types and frequency of potentially harmful OCAs used across selected online platforms. 2. Understand the probability of users encountering these practices on these platforms during their customer journey. 3. Obtain data-driven insights into the relationships between OCA prevalence and factors such as product categories, device types (desktop vs mobile), and platform types (e-commerce vs social media with market functions). 4. Establish an evidence base on the current state of potentially harmful OCA usage by major online platforms operating in the UK market. 5. Use these findings to scope future research projects examining the negative impacts of OCAs on consumer welfare, autonomy, and market competition. 6. Contribute with evidence to update relevant consumer protection and competition policies, guidance, and enforcement approaches to address consumer harms and anti-competitive effects arising from the use of potentially harmful choice architectures by online platforms.

Linked Documents

No linked documents found for this notice.

Opportunity Context

Awards

Award Description: Refistered on Company House as ESRO LIMITED

Raw Notice JSON

Expand raw payload
{
  "awards": [
    {
      "contractPeriod": {
        "endDate": "2026-01-31T23:59:59Z",
        "startDate": "2025-07-31T00:00:00+01:00"
      },
      "date": "2025-07-31T00:00:00+01:00",
      "datePublished": "2025-08-12T14:19:42+01:00",
      "description": "Refistered on Company House as ESRO LIMITED",
      "documents": [
        {
          "datePublished": "2025-08-12T14:19:42+01:00",
          "description": "Awarded contract notice on Contracts Finder",
          "documentType": "awardNotice",
          "format": "text/html",
          "id": "1",
          "language": "en",
          "url": "https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/d066bbe5-a9a6-4a94-93d5-c1dde6cb0c14"
        }
      ],
      "id": "ocds-b5fd17-d6cd907c-487f-4c2b-81a4-7c9004fe2282-1",
      "status": "active",
      "suppliers": [
        {
          "id": "GB-COH-05438122",
          "name": "Revealing Reality"
        }
      ],
      "value": {
        "amount": 79925,
        "currency": "GBP"
      }
    }
  ],
  "buyer": {
    "id": "GB-CFS-307868",
    "name": "Department for Business and Trade"
  },
  "date": "2025-08-12T14:19:42+01:00",
  "id": "d066bbe5-a9a6-4a94-93d5-c1dde6cb0c14-858644",
  "initiationType": "tender",
  "language": "en",
  "ocid": "ocds-b5fd17-d6cd907c-487f-4c2b-81a4-7c9004fe2282",
  "parties": [
    {
      "address": {
        "countryName": "England",
        "locality": "London",
        "postalCode": "SW1A 2DY",
        "streetAddress": "Old Admiralty Building, Whitehall"
      },
      "contactPoint": {
        "email": "CommercialResearchandConsultancy@businessandtrade.gov.uk",
        "name": "Department for Business and  Trade"
      },
      "id": "GB-CFS-307868",
      "identifier": {
        "legalName": "Department for Business and Trade"
      },
      "name": "Department for Business and Trade",
      "roles": [
        "buyer"
      ]
    },
    {
      "address": {
        "streetAddress": "The Ballroom Maritime House, Grafton Square, London, England, SW4 0JW"
      },
      "details": {
        "scale": "large",
        "vcse": false
      },
      "id": "GB-COH-05438122",
      "identifier": {
        "id": "05438122",
        "legalName": "Revealing Reality",
        "scheme": "GB-COH"
      },
      "name": "Revealing Reality",
      "roles": [
        "supplier"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "tag": [
    "award"
  ],
  "tender": {
    "classification": {
      "description": "Research and development consultancy services",
      "id": "73200000",
      "scheme": "CPV"
    },
    "contractPeriod": {
      "endDate": "2026-01-31T23:59:59Z",
      "startDate": "2025-07-31T00:00:00+01:00"
    },
    "description": "A study to provide foundational evidence to DBT\u0026apos;s policy teams on the nature and extent of potentially harmful OCA practices employed by a selected sample of digital platforms. This evidence is crucial for subsequently developing appropriate regulatory responses and interventions to safeguard the interests of consumers and promote fair competition in online markets.\r\nThe goods or services procured through this contract will be used by the Department for Business and Trade to:\r\n1. Identify the types and frequency of potentially harmful OCAs used across selected online platforms.\r\n2. Understand the probability of users encountering these practices on these platforms during their customer journey.\r\n3. Obtain data-driven insights into the relationships between OCA prevalence and factors such as product categories, device types (desktop vs mobile), and platform types (e-commerce vs social media with market functions).\r\n4. Establish an evidence base on the current state of potentially harmful OCA usage by major online platforms operating in the UK market.\r\n5. Use these findings to scope future research projects examining the negative impacts of OCAs on consumer welfare, autonomy, and market competition.\r\n6. Contribute with evidence to update relevant consumer protection and competition policies, guidance, and enforcement approaches to address consumer harms and anti-competitive effects arising from the use of potentially harmful choice architectures by online platforms.",
    "id": "tender_490995/1504177",
    "items": [
      {
        "deliveryAddresses": [
          {
            "countryName": "British Oversea Territories"
          },
          {
            "countryName": "Channel Islands"
          },
          {
            "countryName": "Europe"
          },
          {
            "countryName": "Isle of Man"
          },
          {
            "countryName": "Rest of the World"
          },
          {
            "countryName": "United Kingdom"
          }
        ],
        "id": "1"
      }
    ],
    "mainProcurementCategory": "services",
    "procurementMethod": "selective",
    "procurementMethodDetails": "Call-off from a dynamic purchasing system",
    "status": "complete",
    "suitability": {
      "sme": true,
      "vcse": true
    },
    "tenderPeriod": {
      "endDate": "2025-06-03T14:00:00+01:00"
    },
    "title": "Project_4850 Research - Potentially harmful OCA online practices",
    "value": {
      "amount": 79925,
      "currency": "GBP"
    }
  }
}