Omnicom’s Omnipotence
Publicis has had a nice run. But is 2026 the year of the Omnicom?
On Wednesday, Omnicom announced what it calls the next generation of Omni, its central identity and analytics service. The new Omni, which integrates data and technology beneath the Omnicom umbrella, underscores the broader industry trend toward consolidation.
The upgrade stems in part from Omnicom’s acquisition of Interpublic Group, which closed in November, making Omnicom the largest agency holding company by revenue. The deal also brought valuable assets into the fold, chief among them the Acxiom Real ID, an IPG-owned identity solution that is now a part of Omni.
Omnicom is also leaning harder into Flywheel (acquired in 2024) to power Omni’s shopper intelligence. And, on top of that, the new Omni product comes with a new agentic AI framework (because of course).
The final pillar of the new and improved Omni is Interact, which was also IPG’s name for essentially the same centralized data and analytics service.
So what’s the message here for agency holdcos? It doesn’t hurt to be holding a lot of co’s.
Core Workout
Google Search rolled out a broad core update in December, its first since last June. Such updates typically happen a few times per year, so Google was due.
SEO consultant Glenn Gabe breaks down the data from Google’s latest update in a blog post.
First, some spammy redirect sites unexpectedly thrived thanks to the new update. Google has regular minor core updates to fix mistakes, Gabe writes, “but it’s interesting to see this happen with major updates focused on quality.”
And the December update ignored blatant shameless efforts to improve rankings in AI chatbot searches. One cringeworthy example is to publish listicles that prominently feature your own brand.
“It’s a cheesy tactic, and sort of embarrassing for companies doing that, but it works (at least for now),” Gabe writes.
Reddit, meanwhile, continues to feast on Google’s AI search overhaul. This time, it’s using Google’s language-translation AI to connect its non-English user base with Google Search results.
Google’s broad core update from last April and others before it boosted Reddit as a scaled source of authentic commentary and product reviews. At the same time, and unrelatedly (*wink*), Reddit signed a series of advantageous-to-Google data-sharing and advertising partnerships.
Primed For Déjà Vu
Recurring ads have become an unfortunate staple of the streaming experience.
In more Omnicom news, Omnicom Media announced an effort during CES to address TV’s frequency problem, Digiday reports. To help buyers better understand the connection between frequency and conversions, the holdco is integrating TV viewing data from Roku, audience data from Acxiom and shopper insights from Amazon Ads within its Omni platform.
Good plan.
But TV’s frequency problem has stumped the ad industry for years. Remember when FreeWheel launched a Viewer Experience Lab in 2023 to try and nail the balance between ad frequency and viewer aversion? Well, it’s still far from a perfect science.
Key to Omnicom’s efforts is reducing how long it takes for advertisers to see frequency impact reporting from months down to just a day or two. And Acxiom, now part of Omnicom post-IPG merger, could also help the holdco by strengthening its closed-loop attribution, which would help cut down on ad waste.
For now, though, ad-supported streamers can only hope for some relief from the ad bombardment.
But Wait! There’s More
The pressure to introduce ads into chatbots is on – but OpenAI remains hush-hush about its plans. [Digiday]
US online holiday spending hit record levels despite slower growth, according to Adobe. [Reuters]
Thirty-six percent of CMOs anticipate layoffs over the next two years as a result of AI and “eliminating redundancies.” That number jumps to 47% for CMOs at companies with $20 billion or more in revenue. [WSJ]
Uber will let advertisers tinker with the map, one of its “most prized brand assets.” [Marketing Brew]
Warner Bros. Discovery refuses Paramount’s buyout offer – again. [NYT]
You’re Hired!
OAAA promotes Olivia Oshry to CMO. [release]
WPP Media appoints former Publicis exec Angela Steele as its US chief client officer. [Adweek]
IT tooling company Recast names Jake Mosey chief product officer. [release]
