Havas to Settle FTC Probe That Alleged Collusion, Political Bias

By Kelly Cloonan

Havas Media Group reached an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission to resolve a probe into whether the advertising giant colluded with other industry leaders to impose common "brand safety" standards.

The FTC alleged that those standards insulated the ad agencies--including Havas, WPP, Publicis, Dentsu, Omnicom and IPG--from competition and led to "the demonetization of disfavored political viewpoints."

The proposed agreement concerning Havas follows settlement orders finalized earlier this year with other advertising agencies involved in the probe, the FTC said Tuesday

If approved by a federal judge, the order would prohibit Havas from entering into agreements that set common brand safety standards or restrict advertising based on biased and politically motivated criteria, the FTC said.

Havas did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Write to Kelly Cloonan at kelly.cloonan@wsj.com