The W Stands For ‘Whoops’
On top of everything else WPP is dealing with – company-wide rebrands, leadership turnover, shrinking revenue, major client losses, you name it – the agency holdco is also now being sued for allegedly retaliating against an executive-level employee.
Even worse? It might have something to do with an alleged kickback operation.
The $100 million lawsuit was filed by Richard Foster, who led Motion Content Group, WPP’s content investment and rights management division, which produces “Love Island” and many other reality TV programs, reports The Los Angeles Times.
(As an aside, that unit has undergone significant rebranding, from “GroupM Entertainment” in 2009 to “Motion Content Group” in 2017 to “GroupM Motion Entertainment” in 2023 to, now, “Motion Entertainment, a WPP Media Company.” Yikes.)
WPP’s stance is that Foster was let go in July due to organizational restructuring. However, Foster claims he was targeted after bringing up concerns that the agency might be engaging in improper billing practices with “rebate-driven deals.”
According to the LA Times, Foster reportedly told one executive that “WPP and GroupM have ‘been sleepwalking to the edge of a cliff and people don’t want to hear it.’”
Double yikes.
Zombie RMNs
Do you know how Frankenstein’s monster was brought to life?
They gave him a jolt!
The same is now true of Volta Media, the electric car-charging manufacturer that was also a programmatic sales house for digital out-of-home ads (via screens on its charging stations).
As AdExchanger first reported in August, Volta was almost shuttered by the energy giant Shell, which bought it for pennies on the dollar in 2023.
Shell initially liked the ad revenue diversification, but Volta was still losing roughly $140 million per year as of early 2025. The time came that Shell was ready to wash its hands of the experiment.
So in stepped Jolt, an Australian startup with the same business model (electric car-charging stations, plus advertising), but even more so.
Jolt charging stations have larger screens (a whopping 75 inches), for one thing, and require customers to download an app to recharge.
Unlike Volta, which was a car-charging business with ad revenue tacked on, Jolt is primarily an ad seller, revenue-wise, as CEO Doug McNamee tells AdExchanger. Car charging is the ancillary business.
“We’re an advertising business top to tail,” McNamee says.
Jolt’s focus is to bring together data, storytelling and campaign measurement. “That’s the core of what we do,” he says.
Can’t Spell ‘Responsibility’ With AI
Google, Meta and Amazon are pushing advertisers toward AI systems that take creative and targeting responsibilities off their hands.
But what happens when agentic AI solutions foul up?
Wolf River Electric, a solar contractor, saw a flood of cancellations after Google Gemini inexplicably began returning AI-generated descriptions of the company being sued by the Minnesota attorney general over deceptive sales practices, The New York Times reports.
Wolf River is now suing Google for defamation. It joins a long list of litigants trying to settle the question of who’s responsible for AI-generated errors that result in tangible business losses.
The law often hinges on intent. Was there an honest mistake or did one party willfully lie to harm another? But AI has no intent.
Also, the first wave of AI defamation litigation is being spearheaded by right-wing personalities such as Robby Starbuck and Mark Walters, who are cynically pursuing easy settlements.
But, more importantly, Gemini is the same Google tech that underpins ad systems being designated with vast responsibilities to devise new copy and creative strategies, autogenerate creative and manage audience targeting within a black box.
And it bears no responsibility for any inevitable massive errors that result.
What can go wrong?
But Wait! There’s More!
In advance of Omnicom’s takeover, IPG cut 3,200 jobs. [Adweek]
How TikTok is planning to combat fraud and counterfeit goods in its ecommerce marketplace this holiday season. [Modern Retail]
AppLovin’s AI-fueled surge and The Trade Desk’s stumble show where investors are placing their bets. [Digiday]
The EU readies a fresh investigation into Google over news publisher rankings. [FT]
You’re Hired!
Peter Naylor joins Nielsen as chief client officer. [Variety]
WPP names Elav Horwitz as its first-ever chief innovation officer. [Adweek]
Streaming tech and services platform Kiswe makes a slew of new leadership appointments. [release]
Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here.
