Ad agencies settle FTC probe

Three of the world’s biggest ad agencies agreed on April 15 to settle Federal Trade Commission claims that they coordinated ad restrictions tied to political content. (ftc.gov) The Federal Trade Commission said WPP, Publicis and Dentsu used common “brand safety” standards starting in 2018 and steered client ad money away from sites with what the agency called “disfavored” viewpoints. (ftc.gov) The settlements, filed with eight Republican-led states, require the companies to stop setting shared standards or using exclusion lists that restrict ad placements based on political or ideological viewpoints. The states are Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, Texas, Utah and West Virginia. (reuters.com, courthousenews.com) At the center of the case is “brand safety,” the system advertisers use to avoid placing ads next to material they think could hurt a brand. The Federal Trade Commission said those tools are legal when firms set their own rules, but unlawful when rivals align on one floor for the whole market. (ftc.gov) The agency said the companies coordinated through the World Federation of Advertisers’ Global Alliance for Responsible Media and the American Association of Advertising Agencies’ Advertiser Protection Bureau. The complaint says those groups helped create a shared “brand safety floor” aimed at “misinformation.” (ftc.gov, courthousenews.com) Federal regulators tied the case to specific publishers and platforms, saying inventory on Elon Musk’s X and on Breitbart was cited as at risk of losing ad access under the alleged collusion. Reuters reported the complaint was filed in federal court in Fort Worth, Texas. (reuters.com) The Federal Trade Commission framed the case as both an antitrust dispute and a speech dispute. Its complaint says the agencies control more than $81 billion in ad-buying power, giving shared rules broad effects on publishers and advertisers. (courthousenews.com) The companies did not admit or deny wrongdoing. WPP said the order reflects its “existing and ongoing commitment” to give clients unbiased advice, and Dentsu said it remains committed to operating transparently and in compliance with the law; Publicis did not immediately respond to Reuters and PYMNTS requests for comment. (reuters.com, pymnts.com) Others pushed back on the Federal Trade Commission’s account. NewsGuard Co-Chief Executive Gordon Crovitz said his company does not work with the agencies in the settlement and that its ratings are based on journalistic standards, not politics. (mediapost.com) The case extends a campaign the agency had already applied to Omnicom and Interpublic. Reuters reported that the Federal Trade Commission approved Omnicom’s $13.5 billion purchase of Interpublic in June 2025 on condition that the combined company not conspire to steer ad dollars based on political content, and PYMNTS said the final order in that matter was approved in September 2025. (reuters.com, pymnts.com) The new settlements do not ban advertisers from making their own placement choices. They bar the largest media-buying firms from making those choices together. (ftc.gov, courthousenews.com)