Andrew Ferguson

Efforts to police children’s data online are running up against the limits of decades-old privacy laws, such as COPPA.

Privacy isn’t black-and-white, says the FTC’s Chris Mufarrige, promising evidence-driven consumer protection cases under the Trump administration.

Critics say the FTC’s deal with OMG/IPG prohibits agency practices that don’t exist. And it distracts from legitimate concerns about brand safety news blocking and principal media.

Whatever your take on the FTC’s oddly conditional green light for the Omnicom/IPG merger, one thing’s clear: The agency is being more active than expected.

Google’s pivot on IP addresses shows it fears competition; the FTC investigates media watchdogs for advising brands not to spend on X; and Mondelez accuses Aldi of copying its snacks.

Using pejorative labels, like “surveillance advertising,” does “nothing to help us understand the practice,” says Christopher Mufarrige, the newly appointed director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.

The Trade Desk’s weak Q4 emboldened the company’s critics; DOGE’s cuts to federal agencies are hurting ad agencies; and President Trump fires the two remaining Democratic FTC commissioners.

What’s in the tea leaves for the FTC’s new chair Andrew Ferguson, who took over in January? Kyle Kessler, a partner at Womble Bond Dickinson, weighs in.

Now that Chevron is overturned, it will be easier for companies to challenge FTC regulations in court, arguing that they exceed the FTC’s mandate, writes OpenX’s Julie Rooney.

AirBNB starting an ad service business is “not a matter of if; it’s a matter of when.”  Plus, Walmart is winning.

Under the new leadership, the FTC is signaling a pivot away from sweeping rulemaking efforts to let Congress play that role, writes Uplevel CEO Raashee Gupta Erry.

But cookies aside – and don’t forget to leave a few real ones out for Santa – there were lots of other big privacy developments in 2024. Here are some of the highlights.

Ad industry growth will slow to single-digits next year; consolidation hits the CPG market; and predicting the future of the FTC based on a commissioner’s pitch to the president-elect.

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Thanks For Not Sharing Non-advertising companies can end up with strange new incentive structures when they start collecting ad dollars. For instance, the more Netflix’s ad revenue grows, the greater the internal pressure to crack down on password sharing. Previously, Netflix could turn […]