FTC reaches settlement with major ad agencies over alleged ‘brand safety’ collusion

The Federal Trade Commission has reached a settlement with several of the world’s largest advertising holding companies following an antitrust investigation into coordinated ad-buying practices tied to political content.

The agreements involve WPP, Publicis Groupe and Dentsu, which were accused of working together to apply uniform “brand safety” standards that restricted where advertisers placed their spending. Regulators alleged that the companies collectively steered advertising budgets away from platforms and publishers associated with certain political viewpoints.

The case follows earlier regulatory action involving Omnicom and Interpublic Group, where similar conditions were imposed during a merger review to prevent coordinated restrictions on ad placements tied to political content.

According to the complaint, the agencies’ coordination dates back to at least 2018 and was facilitated through industry groups, where common frameworks were developed to identify and limit exposure to content labeled as misinformation. The FTC argued that this approach reduced competition among agencies by replacing independent decision-making with shared standards, effectively shaping access to advertising revenue across parts of the digital media ecosystem.

Authorities said the practices risked excluding platforms from ad markets based on criteria that were not independently determined by each agency, raising concerns about both market competition and the broader flow of information online. The complaint also referenced the use of third-party data providers that categorized certain outlets as unsuitable for advertising.

Under the settlement terms, the agencies agreed to stop coordinating on shared brand safety benchmarks and to avoid the use of joint exclusion lists when placing ads. The order also prohibits future agreements that could impose standardized restrictions on ad placements based on political or ideological factors.

The companies did not admit wrongdoing as part of the resolution. The settlement, backed by a coalition of eight U.S. states, has been filed in federal court and requires judicial approval to take full effect.