Ad agencies settle FTC probe
Three large ad groups agreed to a settlement with the FTC over allegations they conspired to boycott online platforms based on political content. The settlement reportedly bars coordinated brand‑safety restrictions tied to political viewpoints and names WPP, Publicis and Dentsu in the action. (reuters.com)
Three of the world’s biggest ad-buying groups agreed on April 15 to settle a Federal Trade Commission case accusing them of coordinating ad restrictions around political content. (ftc.gov) The companies are WPP, Publicis and Dentsu, and the case was filed in federal court in Fort Worth, Texas, with eight Republican-led states joining the Federal Trade Commission. Reuters reported the settlement requires Dentsu, Publicis and WPP’s GroupM unit to stop trying to set common brand-safety standards or use shared exclusion lists when placing ads. (ftc.gov) (usnews.com) “Brand safety” is the system advertisers use to avoid having their ads appear next to material they see as risky, including violence, hate speech or false claims. The Federal Trade Commission said that, starting in 2018, the agencies crossed the line by allegedly coordinating those rules across the market instead of competing over them. (ftc.gov) The complaint says the agencies worked through the World Federation of Advertisers’ Global Alliance for Responsible Media and the American Association of Advertising Agencies’ Advertiser Protection Bureau. It alleges those groups helped create a common “Brand Safety Floor” aimed at “misinformation,” with NewsGuard and the Global Disinformation Index referenced in the Federal Trade Commission’s account. (ftc.gov) The Federal Trade Commission tied the case to specific publishers and platforms, saying sites could become ineligible for ad placements because of the alleged coordination. Reuters said the complaint cited concerns about misinformation on Elon Musk’s X and the conservative site Breitbart. (usnews.com) The case extends a campaign the agency has been building for months against politically driven ad-buying restrictions. In June 2025, the Federal Trade Commission approved Omnicom’s $13.5 billion acquisition of Interpublic on the condition that the combined company not steer ad dollars toward or away from platforms based on political content, and Reuters said that merger closed in November 2025. (usnews.com) The companies did not admit or deny wrongdoing in the settlement. Dentsu said it was committed to operating transparently and in compliance with the law, WPP said it was committed to giving clients unbiased advice on ad placement, and Reuters said Publicis did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (usnews.com) The Federal Trade Commission framed the case as an antitrust dispute over competition in ad-buying services, not a direct speech case. If the court approves the proposed orders, the agency’s April 15 action will set the rule that major ad firms cannot collectively use brand-safety systems to cut off publishers over political viewpoints. (ftc.gov)
