Federal Trade Commission Chair Andrew Ferguson just secured a huge win in his fight against an advertising giant, prompting it to renounce a coercive tool aimed at choking out disfavored media.
Ferguson announced Monday that the FTC approved advertising giant Omnicom Group Inc.’s merger with another advertising company, Interpublic Group (IPG), after both entities agreed to never engage “in illegal collusion or coordination to direct advertising away from media publishers based on political or ideological viewpoints.” Omnicom will be the world’s largest advertising agency after the merger, according to the FTC.
FTC Bureau of Competition Director Daniel Guarnera described media and websites as “critical to the flow of our nation’s commerce and communication.” He added, “Coordination among advertising agencies to suppress advertising spending on publications with disfavored political or ideological viewpoints threatens to distort not only competition between ad agencies, but also public discussion and debate. The FTC’s action today prevents unlawful coordination that targets specific political or ideological viewpoints while preserving individual advertisers’ ability to choose where their ads are placed.”
Previously concentrated control of advertising has been wielded as a weapon against websites that publish disfavored content on issues such as the COVID-19 pandemic, immigration and transgenderism.
The World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), reportedly controlling 90% of global advertising dollars, established the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), which itself stands accused of censorship. GARM worked to “demonetize and eliminate disfavored content online” while “colluding to demonetize conservative platforms and voices,” according to House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH). Omnicom and IPG are both members of the WFA and founding members of GARM.
The WFA announced it would dismantle GARM in August 2024, following an antitrust lawsuit launched by Elon Musk’s X and Rumble. The Trump administration has also shut down the State Department’s Global Engagement Center for funding one of the organizations that GARM relied on to identify disfavored publications, the Global Disinformation Index.
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