Let Me FTC That Again
Omnicom and IPG have both received requests for additional information from the FTC about the proposed merger between both companies, Adweek reports.
According to Omnicom’s blog post announcing the news, this “Second Request” is a standard procedure under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Antitrust Improvements Act of 1979.
Standard though it may be, only a small percentage of mergers go through the Second Request procedure. For example, in 2022, only 1.6% of HSR-reportable transactions were subject to such a request.
More interestingly, the “Second Request” has started to pick up a reputation as a deal killer in recent years. According to a report released by federal antitrust regulators last year (which isn’t on the official FTC website anymore – surprise!), about three-fourths of proposed mergers subject to a Second Request were either voluntarily restructured or abandoned.
Still, both Omnicom and IPG are confident the merger will close in the second half of 2025.
The Referrals Are Weak
When Google released its AI overviews in May last year, publishers worried it would hurt their referral traffic. But even now, they don’t have transparency into how the still-new feature is affecting them, Digiday reports.
Part of the problem is that Google doesn’t separate out clickthroughs from AI overviews, which are simply bundled with other search referral traffic in Google Analytics.
So, let’s say the AI overview tells you something wild – like that hippopotamuses are capable of learning how to perform ultrasounds, for example – and you click the source link to understand the context. A news outlet like WCPO Cincinnati, the ABC local broadcaster that reported on its local zoo’s pregnant hippo in 2022, won’t be able to distinguish your visit from any others coming to the site via Google.
This is bad news for publishers, and not just because it makes attribution more difficult even with third-party reporting vendors like Parse.ly or Semrush.
Smaller outlets have faced decreased referral traffic overall since AI Overviews first rolled out, one of Digiday’s sources said. Because the AI updates have been so “erratic” compared to SEO updates, outlets of all sizes have a harder time adjusting their search strategies to keep up with the changes.
Well. At least the AI isn’t recommending people put glue on their pizza anymore?
No Reddit For You! Come Back One Year!
Reddit now lets users “hide” – or block, essentially – specific advertisers for an entire year, says Ars Technica.
The feature has yet to roll out everywhere, but according the announcement made on Thursday (by a Reddit Safety admin with the apt username “cozy_sheets”), hiding a single ad will automatically hide future ads from that same advertiser account for “at least a year,” at which point the user can rehide the advertiser if they choose.
This new feature is an add-on to Reddit’s existing ad controls, which allow users to block certain categories such as politics or gambling. They can also report ads that go against Reddit’s policies (which similarly blocks the advertiser account for a year) and turn off personalized ads in some (but not all!) countries, including the United States.
A lot of other social media platforms have features in place to let users control which ads they see. But it’s interesting that it took Reddit, which is known for having an especially tech-savvy, anti-advertising user base, so long to adopt similar tools. (And not surprising that those users have already started testing the daily limits of those tools.)
But Wait! There’s More
Google Chrome extensions are no longer allowed to mess with affiliate links or promise fake coupons to users. [PCWorld]
Gen Z deserves a little treat – and brand marketers are capitalizing on it. [Ad Age]
Why SEO shouldn’t be seen as an afterthought. [The Drum]
Facebook continues its efforts to lure creators over from TikTok. [Fortune]
Publicis wins Coca-Cola’s US media business over WPP. [Adweek]
