The FTC has approved Omnicom Group’s acquisition of IPG after the advertising giants agreed not to collude on politically motivated ad boycotts to censor conservative viewpoints.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the FTC has given the green light to Omnicom Group’s proposed acquisition of rival Interpublic Group (IPG). The approval comes after the two advertising giants pledged not to collude on politically motivated ad boycotts, addressing concerns raised by the commission about the advertising industry’s censorship of conservatives.
The all-stock deal, announced in December, values IPG at around $13 billion and will create the world’s largest advertising company with approximately $25 billion in net revenue, based on 2024 figures. While executives at Omnicom and IPG had expressed confidence in the government’s approval, citing a more business-friendly incoming Trump administration, the FTC had requested additional information from the companies in March, signaling a review of the deal.
The commission’s investigation also extended to whether advertising companies and leftist advocacy groups violated antitrust laws by steering ad spending away from platforms like Elon Musk’s X. In the agreement announced Monday, Omnicom and IPG committed not to collude with other firms to move advertising dollars away from media outlets based on their perceived conservative political or ideological alignment. The agreement does not include any admission of violations by either company.
FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson emphasized the importance of the decision, stating, “Today’s decision and order eliminates the potential for costly litigation while ensuring that Omnicom and IPG abide by the antitrust laws postmerger. Moreover, this agreement requires Omnicom and IPG to cooperate with the commission in any investigation relating to media-buying services—and I have already noted that investigating and policing censorship practices that run afoul of the antitrust laws is a top priority of the Trump-Vance FTC.”
As part of the agreement, Omnicom and IPG also agreed not to develop “exclusion lists” of sites or platforms where it doesn’t recommend advertising and will submit an annual report for the next five years demonstrating its compliance with the agreement.
Omnicom CEO John Wren welcomed the FTC’s approval, stating, “This is an important step toward the completion of the proposed acquisition and creating a new era in which we help clients grow with a comprehensive range of marketing and sales solutions, incorporating both creativity and technology.”
The FTC’s approval is technically provisional, subject to a 30-day public comment period and a final vote from the commission. The agreement, when finalized, will also release Omnicom and IPG from demands for information the commission made this month as part of its probe into alleged politically motivated ad boycotts against sites like X.
Elon Musk’s has sued both marketers and watchdog organizations like Media Matters for allegedly colluding in an illegal ad boycott. The social media company has threatened to take more advertisers to court if they don’t increase their spending on its platform. In response, Media Matters has sued the FTC, arguing that the commission is attempting to silence the group on behalf of Musk.
The Omnicom-IPG merger also faces regulatory scrutiny in other countries. Agencies in the UK and Australia have opened the deal to public comment to determine whether it would violate existing laws by creating an uneven playing field among companies offering advertising and media-buying services.
Read more at the Wall Street Journal here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
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