The Federal Trade Commission announced on Apr. 15 that it, along with a coalition of states, has taken action against major U.S. advertising agencies for allegedly colluding to impose common brand safety standards in the digital advertising industry.
The case is significant because it addresses concerns about competition and the potential impact on both advertisers and the broader marketplace of ideas. The FTC alleges that beginning in 2018, WPP, Publicis, and Dentsu coordinated through trade associations to set a uniform "Brand Safety Floor" aimed at targeting misinformation. Their primary competitors Omnicom and IPG were also involved through industry groups such as the World Federation of Advertisers’ Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) and the American Association of Advertising Agencies’ Advertiser Protection Bureau (APB).
According to the FTC’s complaint, this arrangement allowed companies like NewsGuard and the Global Disinformation Index to promote demonetization based on their designations of misinformation. The FTC said these actions displaced competition by insulating agencies from normal market pressures where they would otherwise compete for advertisers using differentiated brand-safety tools.
To resolve these charges, the agencies have agreed to a proposed order designed to halt this coordinated conduct and prevent similar actions in future. Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson said: “The ad agencies’ brand-safety conspiracy turned competition in the market for ad-buying services on its head.” He continued: “As we explain in our complaint, the brand-safety agreement limited competition in the market for ad-buying services and deprived advertisers of the benefits of differentiated brand-safety standards that could be tailored to their unique advertising inventory.” Ferguson added: “This unlawful collusion not only damaged our marketplace, but also distorted the marketplace of ideas by discriminating against speech and ideas that fell below the unlawfully agreed-upon floor. The proposed order remedies the dangers inherent to collusive practices and restores competition to the digital news ecosystem.”
If approved by a federal judge, this order will prohibit these large U.S. advertising agencies from entering agreements that set common brand safety standards or restrict advertising based on biased or politically motivated criteria going forward. Omnicom and IPG are subject to a similar FTC order.
The Commission vote was 1-0-1 with Commissioner Meador recused; Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, Texas, Utah and West Virginia joined as plaintiffs when filing in U.S. District Court for Northern District of Texas.
Broader implications include increased scrutiny over how digital ad markets operate when it comes to content moderation policies—potentially affecting both publishers' revenues and public discourse online.
