The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has cleared Omnicom’s $10 billion acquisition of Interpublic Group, but not without a pointed condition: the new advertising behemoth must not steer ad dollars away from media publishers based on political or ideological viewpoints.
The deal, set to create the world’s largest advertising agency by revenue, passed its biggest regulatory hurdle on Monday, when the FTC accepted a proposed consent order aimed at curbing politically motivated ad placements.
The agency’s order “imposes restrictions that prevent Omnicom from engaging in collusion or coordination to direct advertising away from media publishers based on the publishers’ political or ideological viewpoints,” it said in a statement.
The move follows a wave of Republican-led scrutiny over alleged collusion within the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), which had coordinated brand safety standards before shutting down amid controversy. While GARM claimed to help advertisers avoid objectionable content, critics accused it of enabling de facto censorship, boycotting platforms such as X based on political leanings.
The FTC’s complaint took aim at this kind of behaviour, alleging that “coordination among advertising agencies to suppress advertising spending on publications with disfavoured political or ideological viewpoints threatens to distort not only competition between ad agencies, but also public discussion and debate,” according to Daniel Guarnera, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition.
The proposed consent order prohibits Omnicom from creating or using “exclusion lists” with other firms or third parties. However, advertisers themselves may still choose where their ads appear.
“Omnicom-IPG may choose with whom it does business and follow any lawful instruction from its customers as to where and how to advertise,” said FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson. “No one will be forced to have their brand or their ads appear in venues and among content they do not wish.”
Ferguson called the prohibited behaviour “the supreme evil of antitrust”, a reference to unlawful collusion among firms.
Omnicom and IPG called the order “mutually acceptable” in a joint statement.
John Wren, chairman and CEO of Omnicom, said: “This is an important step toward the completion of the proposed acquisition. We continue to look forward to obtaining the remaining regulatory approvals and closing in the second half of this year, consistent with our expectations when we announced this transaction.”
The public now has 30 days to comment on the proposed consent agreement. If finalised, the merger will reshape the global advertising landscape, under close political and regulatory watch.
