Ad Giants To Abandon ‘Brand Safety’ Rules After FTC Challenge.

In a move that has the potential to bring more advertising dollars to right-leaning podcasters, conservative talk radio, and other media channels, three of the biggest U.S. ad agencies will abandon brand safety efforts. WPP, Publicis and Dentsu have reached a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission that will stop what the government alleges has been a coordinated effort by the agencies to establish a common “brand safety floor” to target “misinformation.”

The FTC says agencies have been relying on companies like NewsGuard and the Global Disinformation Index to insulate themselves from efforts that have promoted the demonetization of disfavored political viewpoints. Conservative media companies have alleged that has disproportionately impacted them, and the Trump administration has picked up the cause in its enforcement efforts during the past year.

The complaint brought by the FTC and eight states alleges the ad agencies operated through trade groups like the World Federation of Advertisers’ now-shuttered Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) to establish their common brand-safety standards. Under the agencies’ brand-safety agreement, content that included so-called “misinformation” were deemed to fall below the brand safety floor and thus risked becoming categorically ineligible for advertising revenue. To resolve the FTC’s charges, the ad agencies have agreed to a proposed order that will stop the alleged coordinated conduct and prevent similar conduct from occurring in the future.

FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson says what he views as a “brand safety conspiracy” turned competition in the market for ad-buying services on its head and threatened to distort the fundamental competitive pressures that promote lower prices.

“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 said. “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.”

According to the complaint filed Wednesday in Fort Worth, TX, that collaboration extended to sensitive categories like political and news content. At one point, the FTC alleges the agencies discussed expanding restrictions to topics including “ProLife/ProChoice, Gun Control, Privacy vs Public safety… [and] Immigration reform.”

Regulators say the coordination went further with the addition of a “misinformation” category, with internal communications showing agencies aligning on how to treat such content. One email exchange cited in the complaints between agency executives notes the firms “met yesterday on misinformation and had a ton of back-and-forth discussion. We’re close, but not 100% there.”

The complaint also points to efforts to present a unified front to the market. In one instance, agencies were encouraged in email exchanges to “speak as a single entity to describe how they’re tailoring plans and buys.”

The agreement still needs approval by a federal judge.