FTC in talks with big ad groups

The Federal Trade Commission is negotiating possible settlements with major ad companies over claims they coordinated where political content could and could not get ad money. (usnews.com) Reuters reported on April 12 that Dentsu, Publicis, and WPP were among the firms in talks, citing a Wall Street Journal report based on people familiar with the matter. The proposed deals would bar agencies from steering client budgets away from platforms because of political content, while leaving each advertiser free to avoid specific sites on its own. (usnews.com) The talks are not final, and Reuters said no agreement is guaranteed. The Federal Trade Commission did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment on April 12. (usnews.com) This fight sits at the intersection of antitrust law and “brand safety,” the ad industry term for keeping a company’s ads away from material it sees as harmful or toxic. The Federal Trade Commission’s current position is that an advertiser can make that call alone, but agencies cannot coordinate those decisions across the market in ways that suppress publishers over political or ideological views. (ftc.gov) The agency laid out that theory in June 2025, when it approved Omnicom Group’s $13.5 billion acquisition of Interpublic Group with a consent order. The order said the combined company could not coordinate with others to direct advertising away from publishers based on political or ideological viewpoints, except at the “express and individualized direction” of each client. (ftc.gov) The Federal Trade Commission said then that Omnicom and Interpublic were the third- and fourth-largest media-buying agencies in the United States, and that the merger would create the world’s largest media-buying agency. The agency’s complaint also said advertising firms had coordinated through industry associations on decisions not to advertise on certain websites and apps. (ftc.gov) The political pressure behind the probe had been building since at least July 2024, when Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee released a report accusing the Global Alliance for Responsible Media of trying to cut off ad revenue to disfavored outlets and platforms. That report said the coalition discussed blocking outlets including Fox News, The Daily Wire, and Breitbart News, and targeting X after Elon Musk bought the platform. (judiciary.house.gov) The Global Alliance for Responsible Media was a World Federation of Advertisers initiative created in 2019 after the Christchurch mosque shootings to develop common standards for harmful online content and ad placement. The World Federation of Advertisers said on August 9, 2024, that it was discontinuing the initiative. (wfanet.org) The Federal Trade Commission widened the matter in May 2025 by seeking documents from Media Matters about communications with other groups that evaluate misinformation and hate speech, according to Reuters. That demand tied the agency’s inquiry more directly to claims that watchdog groups and advertisers helped pull ad dollars from X after Musk’s 2022 takeover. (cnbc.com) By April 13, 2026, a Federal Trade Commission lawyer told a federal appeals court the agency was close to settlements in the ad-boycott probe, according to Bloomberg and other reports. If the talks hold, the agency would be turning the theory it used in the Omnicom-Interpublic merger into rules for more of the ad industry. (bloomberg.com)