{"id":3656546,"date":"2026-04-15T15:50:02","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T19:50:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pymnts.com\/?p=3656546"},"modified":"2026-04-15T15:50:02","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T19:50:02","slug":"ad-agencies-resolve-ftc-charges-of-illegal-digital-ad-boycotts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pymnts.com\/news\/regulation\/2026\/ad-agencies-resolve-ftc-charges-of-illegal-digital-ad-boycotts\/","title":{"rendered":"Ad Agencies Resolve FTC Charges of Illegal Digital Ad Boycotts"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ftc.gov\/\">Federal Trade Commission<\/a> (FTC) and eight states have reached a settlement with three advertising agencies that they accused of unlawfully colluding on the placement of digital ads.<\/p><div\r\n\tid=\"article-paywall-overlay\"\r\n\tclass=\"d-none\"\r\n>\r\n\t<div id=\"article-paywall-content\" class=\"my-4\">\r\n\t\t\n<div class=\"wpcf7 no-js\" id=\"wpcf7-f2699550-o1\" 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\/><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n\t\t\t\t<p><span class=\"wpcf7-form-control-wrap\" data-name=\"YourEmail\"><input size=\"40\" maxlength=\"400\" class=\"wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-email wpcf7-validates-as-required wpcf7-text wpcf7-validates-as-email form-control border-secondary\" id=\"inputEmail\" aria-required=\"true\" aria-invalid=\"false\" placeholder=\"Email*\" value=\"\" type=\"email\" name=\"YourEmail\" \/><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n\t\t\t\t<p><span class=\"wpcf7-form-control-wrap\" data-name=\"YourCountry\"><input size=\"40\" maxlength=\"400\" class=\"wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-text wpcf7-validates-as-required form-control border-secondary\" id=\"inputCountry\" aria-required=\"true\" aria-invalid=\"false\" placeholder=\"Country*\" value=\"\" type=\"text\" name=\"YourCountry\" \/><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n\t\t\t<input 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href=\"https:\/\/pymnts-com-develop.go-vip.net\/privacy-policy\/\">Privacy Policy<\/a> and <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https:\/\/pymnts-com-develop.go-vip.net\/terms-conditions\/\">Terms and Conditions<\/a>.\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<p><input id='hiddenPath' type='hidden' name='path' value='' \/><input type='hidden' name='userDeviceId' id='userDeviceId' \/><input type='hidden' name='pageTitle' id='pageTitle' \/>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col-12\">\n\t\t\t\t<div id='formButtonRow' class='container mt-1 px-0'>\n\t\t\t\t\t<p><input class=\"wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-submit has-spinner btn btn-dark text-uppercase py-2 px-5 small\" id=\"theSubmitButton\" type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"post_id\" value=\"3656546\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"source\" value=\"https:\/\/www.pymnts.com\/news\/regulation\/2026\/ad-agencies-resolve-ftc-charges-of-illegal-digital-ad-boycotts\/\" \/><p style=\"display: none !important;\" class=\"akismet-fields-container\" data-prefix=\"_wpcf7_ak_\"><label>&#916;<textarea name=\"_wpcf7_ak_hp_textarea\" cols=\"45\" rows=\"8\" maxlength=\"100\"><\/textarea><\/label><input type=\"hidden\" id=\"ak_js_1\" name=\"_wpcf7_ak_js\" value=\"152\"\/><script>document.getElementById( \"ak_js_1\" ).setAttribute( \"value\", ( new Date() ).getTime() );<\/script><\/p><div class=\"wpcf7-response-output\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/div>\n<\/form>\n<\/div>\n\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div id=\"article-paywall-hidden-content\">\r\n\t\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to the FTC\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ftc.gov\/system\/files\/ftc_gov\/pdf\/Dentsu-Complaint.pdf\">complaint<\/a>, beginning in 2018, ad agencies <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wpp.com\/en-us\">WPP<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.publicisgroupe.com\/fr\/splash\">Publicis<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dentsu.com\/\">Dentsu<\/a> operated through trade associations to impose common \u201cbrand safety\u201d standards and target what they called \u201cmisinformation,\u201d the regulator said in a Wednesday (April 15) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ftc.gov\/news-events\/news\/press-releases\/2026\/04\/ftc-takes-action-restore-competition-digital-advertising-ecosystem\">press release<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe ad agencies\u2019 brand-safety conspiracy turned competition in the market for ad-buying services on its head,\u201d FTC Chairman <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ftc.gov\/about-ftc\/commissioners-staff\/andrew-n-ferguson\">Andrew N. Ferguson<\/a> said in the release. \u201cThe antitrust laws guarantee participation in a market free from conduct, such as economic boycotts, that distort the fundamental competitive pressures that promote lower prices, higher quality products and increased innovation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The proposed order to which the ad agencies agreed to resolve the FTC\u2019s charges will stop the alleged coordinated conduct and prevent it from happening in the future, according to the release. The order is subject to approval by a federal judge.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reached by PYMNTS, a WPP spokesperson said in an emailed statement: \u201cWPP Media confirms that it has reached agreement on a mutually acceptable consent order with the FTC on a no admit or deny basis. We are pleased to finalize this agreement with the FTC which reflects our existing and ongoing commitment to provide our clients with unbiased advice as they decide where to place their media.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A Dentsu spokesperson said in an emailed statement: \u201cDentsu remains fully committed to operating transparently, with integrity, and in strict compliance with all applicable laws. Our dedication to delivering value and maintaining the highest standards of compliance is unchanged.\u201d<\/p><div id=\"pymnt-4062376124\" class=\"pymnt-content pymnt-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-top: 50px;\"><p style=\"text-align:center\">Advertisement: Scroll to Continue<\/p><script async type=\"text\/javascript\" id=\"dianomi_context_script\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dianomi.com\/js\/contextfeed.js\"><\/script> \r\n<div class=\"dianomi_context\" data-dianomi-context-id=\"4329\"><\/div><\/div>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Publicis did not immediately reply to PYMNTS\u2019 request for comment.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The FTC was joined in its complaint by eight states: Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, Texas, Utah and West Virginia, according to the regulator\u2019s press release.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The regulator said in September 2025 that it approved a final order that settled its complaint against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.omc.com\/\">Omnicom Group<\/a> and The Interpublic Group of Companies (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/ipg\">IPG<\/a>), which alleged that these two <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ftc.gov\/news-events\/news\/press-releases\/2025\/09\/ftc-alters-final-consent-order-response-public-comments-preventing-coordination-global-advertising\">ad agencies<\/a> coordinated together and through industry associations to deny ad dollars to media publishers based on their political or ideological viewpoint.<\/p>\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>\r\n\twindow.pymntsAllowedArticleCount = 2;\r\n\twindow.pymntsPostID = 3656546;\r\n<\/script>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and eight states have reached a settlement with three advertising agencies that they accused of unlawfully colluding on the placement of digital ads. Get the Full Story Complete the form to unlock this article and enjoy unlimited free access to all PYMNTS content \u2014 no additional logins required. yesSubscribe to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1636410,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4028],"tags":[4507,5332,5325,9206,133069,5950,5299],"class_list":["post-3656546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-regulation","tag-advertising","tag-federal-trade-commission","tag-ftc","tag-news","tag-pymnts-news","tag-regulations","tag-whats-hot"],"acf":{"suggested_titles":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.2 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ 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