<p><div class="image-container float_right" style="width:400px"><div class="image"><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/4d0a4ddd49e2aea63b080000-590-443/first-round-holiday-62.jpg?maxX=400&amp;maxY=300" border="0" alt="swipely" width="400" height="300" /></div><p class="source">First Round Capital</p><p class="caption"><keyword id="1761755" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Swipely">Swipely</keyword> has muscled up its <keyword id="6357824" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="sales">sales</keyword> operation.</p></div>When Sandy struck the East Coast, Providence <a href="http://www.weather.com/news/weather-hurricanes/hurricane-sandy-new-england-20121028">was largely spared</a>. But Swipely, a startup based in the Rhode Island city, had a different problem: The storm wiped out its chance to sell its payments service to businesses up and down the Northeast Corridor, where it had focused its salespeople's efforts.</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">That didn't stop <keyword id="1761754" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Angus-Davis">Angus Davis</keyword>, the company's CEO and cofounder. Swipely had already built tools to automate the time-consuming process of calling on local businesses. It used those to switch gears in real time.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"Within an hour, we had created a list of 1,200 merchants in the Atlanta area," Davis recalls. Software displayed everything from Yelp reviews of the business to local weather conditions. Instead of losing momentum in the post-Sandy chaos, Davis says his company built a "beachhead" in the southeastern U.S.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Less than a year ago, Swipely launched a payments service that replaces a business's existing credit-card processing with a more sophisticated, Internet-linked payments service. (It was a big change from Swipely's initial notion of encouraging consumers to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/swipely-ceo-tries-to-convince-hes-not-completel-nuts-2010-5">share their purchases with friends</a>.) Nothing changes at the cash register, where clerks swipe cards as usual; Swipely promises to match or beat the fees merchants pay to accept cards. What merchants get in return are online dashboards and marketing tools tied to the transaction data Swipely tracks—a sort of Google Analytics for retail.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">It's not a hard sell, since it doesn't cost the businesses more than they're currently paying. But there are a huge number of local businesses to reach. And so Swipely has applied technology not just to its product but to its sales process as well.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Swipely's sales team does most of its sales by telephone, using</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> <keyword id="154290" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Salesforce-com">Salesforce.com</keyword> and InsideSales.com, two Web-based sales tools common to <keyword id="1778424" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Telesales">telesales</keyword> operations, and data from Infogroup, a local-business directory. But it's added customized tools inspired by the viral features of popular social networks.</span></p>
<p>A salesperson logs on and sees suggestions for leads to call, in a feature inspired by LinkedIn's "People You May Know" feature. Clicking on a prospective business brings up nearby Swipely merchants the salesperson can cite as references customers.</p>
<p>Swipely uses a tool called Clearslide that tracks how customers interact with presentations during a sales call, down to how much time the salesperson and customer spend looking at each slide.</p>
<p>All that data, matched against deals won or lost, gets fed back into the system, generating rules that direct the sales team's efforts.</p>
<p>"We know the best time of day to call on businesses," Davis says.</p>
<p>As a result, Swipely's business is taking off. In September, it was processing the annual equivalent of $50 million in payments. By December, that number had grown fivefold. Swipely's salesforce has likewise grown, rising from 6 in November to 15 currently, out of 35 employees.</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Davis aims to have 50 salespeople by the end of the year.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"We're scrambling just to hire an additional batch of telesales people," he said.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">But thanks to Swipely's clever use of technology, those new hires won't have to scramble for customers.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Swipely has raised $8.5 million from First Round Capital, Greylock Partners, and Index Ventures, among other investors.</span></p>

When Hurricane Sandy Struck, This Company Changed Its Entire Sales Plan-In Minutes

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Two coders shared a demo of Tele-Prompt, an AI that generates things to say during work meetings.</li><li>Tele-Prompt uses natural language processing to suggest sales advice and slogans meant to inspire.</li></ul><p>Two coders have shared a demo of a project they're calling <a href="https://twitter.com/danielgross/status/1604991443747352576" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tele-Prompt</a> — an AI-bot that listens in on work meetings and simultaneously generates interesting quotes that you could choose to interject into the conversation.</p><p>For example, the software developers showed how Tele-Prompt could be used to spin up quotes that emulate the advice that sales leaders could provide to their staff.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">—Daniel Gross  (@danielgross) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1604991443747352576?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 20, 2022</a></blockquote><p>One quote said that "you can never learn sales by reading books and watching videos" and suggested that "to learn Sales (telesales) dial 300+ calls daily," according to the demo. Another quote advised workers to "never make a sales pitch as the way you introduce yourself," but rather emphasize how they can "help people and businesses."</p><p>The bot has even generated slogans meant to inspire like "Freedom is a daring liberation" and "Freedom is a state of mind." </p><p>Tele-Prompt uses a language processing model known as GPT-3 that draws quotes from <a href="https://www.kaggle.com/datasets/akmittal/quotes-dataset" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kaggle's quote database</a> to suggest charismatic comments, one of the coders involved in building the bot tweeted. </p><p>The bot was built by <a href="https://dcgross.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Daniel Gross</a>, an entrepreneur and investor who led AI and search projects at Apple for four years, and <a href="https://nat.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nat Friedman</a>, the former CEO of GitHub who said that he frequently invests in startups with Gross.</p><p>Tele-Prompt comes as conversational AI chat bots such as ChatGPT rise in popularity, prompting curious users to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/i-asked-chatgpt-to-write-insider-story-it-was-convincing-2022-12">experiment with its capabilities</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-management-issues-code-red-over-chatgpt-report-2022-12">sparking debates</a> over whether it or a similar tool will one day replace traditional search engines. The company behind ChatGPT, OpenAI, announced the AI had attracted <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chatgpt-may-hurt-googles-ad-business-former-exec-says-report-2022-12">1 million users</a> five days after its launch.</p><p>While Gross tweeted that the Tele-Prompt demo "is a bit of a joke," he hopes that it "provides an example of a step in a more serious direction" towards the future of AI.</p><p>The bot is not available in a consumer app. However, <a href="https://github.com/danielgross/teleprompter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">its code is publically available on GitHub</a>, which has inspired spinoff versions from other AI enthusiasts. </p><p>Coder Georgi Gerganov, for instance, revamped the Tele-Prompt so that the bot can run on an iPhone, <a href="https://twitter.com/ggerganov/status/1605322535930941441" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to a demo he tweeted</a>.</p><p>As technology continues to advance, Gross tweeted that AI language models are "a really interesting area of exploration."</p><p>"I hope more people have fun with it in the coming months," he said. </p>

2 coders made a teleprompter AI that suggests smart things to say during your work meetings

<ul><li><strong>Around 4,000 jobs were posted every day during the <keyword id="36208" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="festive-season" source="Orion">festive season</keyword> this year, says the <keyword id="198540" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="apna" source="Orion">Apna</keyword> report.<br /></strong></li><li><strong>Cities including Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune, Chennai and Indore witnessed a massive increase in the employer base.<br /></strong></li><li><strong>Hospitality and beauty &amp; wellness industries witnessed a 65% growth in the number of employers this year as compared to the same period last year.</strong></li></ul>The Covid-19-free festive season this year saw the creation of over two lakh jobs especially by the small and medium-sized businesses (<keyword id="417894" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="smbs" source="Orion">SMBs</keyword>) and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), according to a new report by jobs platform Apna.<br /><br />“Festive season is the time for Indian companies to hire professionals in order to maximise their business, creating a pool of opportunities for professionals across the industry. The season’s data reflects how the Indian economy is getting back on track,” said Manas Singh, chief business officer, Apna.<br /><br />The report further said that there was a massive increase in the number of employers looking out for the right talent pool across job roles like telecalling, <keyword id="6380915" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="bpo" source="Orion">BPO</keyword>, telesales, receptionist, front office, help desk admin and office assistants between September 1 to October 27 this year.<br /><br />Roles such as business development, telemarketing and sales also witnessed a growing demand in metro cities like Delhi-NCR, Mumbai and Bengaluru.<br /><br />In fact, during the festive season, on an average, 4,000 jobs were posted everyday, said the report. Cities including Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune, Chennai and Indore witnessed a massive increase in the employer base during the festive season this year.<br /><cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Sectors recording the most number of jobs" comment="subhead" text="Sectors recording the most number of jobs"><span data-til="noop">Sectors recording the most number of jobs</span></cmsannotation><br />According to the report, the hospitality and beauty &amp; wellness industries witnessed a 65% growth in the number of employers this year as compared to the same period last year.<br /><br />The logistics and delivery industry recorded a 21% increase in the number of job applications during this period as the sector offered higher pay and better perks due to higher demand for professionals in the festive season.<br /><br />Delivery jobs were most popular in metro cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi this season.<br /><br />E-commerce, food and hospitality sectors hired the maximum number of gig professionals this season. <keyword id="6358977" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="swiggy" source="Orion">Swiggy</keyword>, Zomato, Zepto, and Licious were the top recruiters during the season, the report added.<br /><br /><strong>SEE ALSO:<br /><a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/hardika-shah-is-the-founder-and-ceo-of-fintech-company-kinara-capital/slidelist/95200480.cms">A mother’s struggles as a kirana-store owner drove her daughter to help small biz owners access loans</a><br /></strong><a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/hearts-from-covid-positive-donors-appear-safe-for-transplantation-study/articleshow/95202521.cms"><strong>Hearts from Covid-positive donors appear safe for transplantation: Study</strong></a>

Over 2 lakh jobs created this festive season, says report

<ul><li>The number of <keyword id="14204114" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="active-gig-workers" source="Orion">active gig workers</keyword> have increased by at least 50% in the last five months, as per <keyword id="14204113" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Taskmo-Gig-Index-report" source="Orion">Taskmo Gig Index report</keyword>.</li><li>Millennials and Gen Z between 19-25 years make up 48% of the gig workforce in the country.</li><li>The gig segment has seen a significant demand for workers across various sectors like quick commerce, healthtech, fintech and e-commerce.</li></ul>With companies like <keyword id="12724311" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Blinkit" source="Orion">Blinkit</keyword>, <keyword id="6358977" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Swiggy" source="Orion">Swiggy</keyword>, <keyword id="12437554" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Zepto" source="Orion">Zepto</keyword> coming up with a 10-min grocery delivery feature, there has been a steady growth in the demand for gig workers. Thus, Indian companies are desperately on the lookout for gig workers to fulfill roles in business development, field sales, last-mile delivery, digital promotion, brand promotion, and micro-influencers, according to <keyword id="14204112" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="taskmo-gig" source="Orion">Taskmo Gig</keyword> Index report.<br /><br />In fact, a 50% growth in active gig workers on the platform in the past five months was seen. The number of active gig workers registered on the platform in May was 60,000, a 15.38% growth in the workforce joining the <keyword id="3080230" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gig-economy" source="Orion">gig economy</keyword> compared to the previous month, as per the data given in the report.<br /><br />A similar trend was also observed in the gig job opportunities as recruiters are strengthening their roots across tier-2 and 3 cities such as Pondicherry, Mirzapur, Patna, Jabalpur, and Kanpur, increasing the number of gig jobs overall.<br /><br />“Gig is the newest trend in the employment market and today we see its expansion across each and every industry in the country. Over the last two years, rapid tech advancements followed by the introduction of flexible work models have created an evolution in the gig economy at large,” said Prashant Janadri, co-founder, Taskmo.<br /><cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="More Millennials and Gen Z are choosing gig work over full-time" comment="subhead" text="More Millennials and Gen Z are choosing gig work over full-time"><span data-til="noop">More Millennials and Gen Z are choosing gig work over full-time</span></cmsannotation><br />The report further highlights that millennials and Gen Z between 19-25 years make up 48% of the gig workforce in the country which indicates that the youth in India are rapidly moving towards freelancing with a preference for flexible work schedules. <br /><br />Gig workers aged between 26 to 40 years hold 32% share in the gig economy, while gig workers in the age group of 41-60 years make up only 20% of the overall workforce.<br /><br />“Now we see every other company promoting gigification of traditional job roles. Furthermore, we have seen that emerging segments in gig are largely dominated by millennials and Gen Z today,” Janadri added.<br /><br />Women gig workers however make up only 28% of the gig workforce. <br /><br />“Gig continues to be a flexible model of work for India’s working women who are able to pick their jobs based on their area of interest, location, availability and experience. Women have been majorly employed in roles related to customer support, content monitoring and moderation, tele-sales, and audits and surveys,” says the report.<br /><br />Furthermore, the gig segment has seen a significant demand for workers across various sectors like quick commerce, healthtech, fintech and e-commerce. Cities like Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai saw the maximum growth, according to the report.<br /><br />Due to the pandemic, more and more companies are hiring freelancers for job roles like business development executives, field sales executives, digital promoters, brand promoters and micro influencers. <br /><br /><strong>SEE ALSO:<br /><a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.in/education/news/west-bengal-and-andhra-pradesh-have-the-most-proficient-techies-in-india/articleshow/92217804.cms">West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh have the most proficient techies in India</a><br /><a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/covid-re-infections-are-mild-but-last-long-and-come-back-sooner-say-experts/articleshow/92224570.cms">COVID re-infections are mild but last long and come ‘back’ sooner say experts</a><br /></strong><a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/nordvpn-to-shut-down-its-servers-in-india-by-june-26-2022/articleshow/92229519.cms"><strong>After rejecting the Indian government's new cyber security guidelines, NordVPN to shut down its servers in India by June 26</strong></a><br />

Gig economy is dominated by millennials but women make up for less than a third of the workforce

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/557f46be6bb3f7002999cdcf-1200-924/friends-europe-4.jpg" border="0" alt="friends europe"><p class="source"><span>jiuck/flickr</span></p><p class="caption">Choose groups over individuals. </p></img></div><p></p></div></div>As an avid traveler, teacher and part-time photographer, I've been lucky enough to meet lots of people from lots of different backgrounds.</p><p>Some became lifelong friends while many more melted into the heap of faded friendships and acquaintances we all leave behind.</p><p>That's not to say that these fleeting encounters are immaterial - even a short conversation can prove to be unexpectedly enlightening or, at the very least, thoroughly entertaining.</p><p>I wasn't always confident when talking to strangers<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">.</span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> Traveling helped immensely. I've visited nearly 50 countries, nearly always on my own, and while I'm certainly comfortable in my own company, I don't want to do it 24/7. </span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">This means that if I am to have company on the road, I must talk to strangers. It's the same at parties and social gatherings: we all find ourselves having to speak to strangers and keep a conversation going. Below are five key things that will help you break the ice and endear you to strangers.</span></p><h3>1. Use names - theirs and yours</h3><p>Use the other person's name several times in conversation to establish an immediate bond. It's a little 'telesales-y' I'll admit, but it works. It shows that you are listening and are focused on them. A less common trick I use is to mention my own name in conversation. For example, if we're talking about traveling, I might say: "My girlfriend doesn't like camping unfortunately. She'll insist that she'll be fine but within five minutes it's 'Peter, I'm cold!'"</p><p>This reminds the other person of your name, something easily forgotten in a rushed introduction when talking to strangers. It saves them the embarrassment of asking your name again or, worse, the awkwardness of talking to you for 20 minutes without the faintest clue what you're called.</p><h3>2. Choose groups over individuals</h3><p>It's always easier to initiate a conversation with another lone person when talking to strangers, but where possible opt for groups instead. It's far easier to maintain an interesting conversation with three or more people than it is with two. In a group, no-one is left wondering if they'll be stuck talking to one person all night; everyone has the option to leave the group and mingle with others with no fear of being rude. You might be reluctant to approach a pair but just because two people are at a party or on the road together, it doesn't mean they don't want to meet other people. Give it a go.</p><h3>3. Don't be that guy</h3><p>He knows something about everything and never nothing about something. He's done your job and he probably did it better than you. He's been where you went on holiday last week… twice. And while he was there he climbed the same mountain you did, but he done it in half the time… and paraglided off the summit at midnight.</p><p>We've all met one of these guys and - as the saying goes - if you haven't, you're probably him. This type of one-upmanship is particularly prevalent in backpacker circles. It's always about who stayed at the cheapest, dirtiest place, or who got invited to a local's abode to eat dubious delicacies off rustic instruments with questionable hygiene. Don't be the guy who needs to have the best story all the time; allow others to tell theirs too. It's a conversation, not an open-mic night.</p><h3>4. Avoid asking the obvious</h3><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/557f4a32eab8ea147e4620f6-1200-924/talking-36.jpg" border="0" alt="talking"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/cannedtuna/2251843127">Flickr/CannedTuna</a></span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div>So what do you do? How do you know [mutual friend]? Where are you from?</p><p>I know it's tempting but people's jobs are probably not the most interesting thing about them. Personally, I start with a lighthearted comment or joke - usually about the host or someone we have in common. I was once in the kitchen of a Swedish hostel when another guest told his table-mates: "Someone just asked me what city I would live if I had complete freedom to choose. What would be yours?" It was a quirky and interesting way to start a conversation. Failing that, offering your fellow travelers a drink, a snack or even a cigarette is sometimes the easiest way to win friends!</p><h3>5. Show people that they've taught you something</h3><p>If someone shares an interesting fact with you, demonstrate that they have taught you something. Smile and say "I never knew that!"</p><p>Everyone loves to feel smart so people will warm to you immediately if they feel appreciated. Don't say 'Yes, I read that a few weeks ago' even if you have. Instead, make the other person feel interesting and knowledgeable. Once they are at ease, the conversation will flow more naturally and chances are they genuinely will teach you something interesting.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bethenny-frankel-aha-moment-2015-6">The brilliant story behind Bethenny Frankel's million-dollar idea for Skinnygirl cocktails</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="45c21rdToeX3Ct6vWEadshBr4jYE7JAF" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', '45c21rdToeX3Ct6vWEadshBr4jYE7JAF',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

5 tips for talking to strangers while traveling

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5538ebb46da8117a4be5e1c6-1200-924/shh-8.jpg" border="0" alt="shh"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/_lovenothing/4597262012">FlickrCC/Zoe</a></span></p><p class="caption">Nobody's talking.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div>There's a problem permeating the <keyword id="35666" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="advertising">advertising</keyword> industry. It has been going on for years. And barely anybody within the agency world wants to admit it even exists.</p><p>There's a lack of transparency about what <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">marketers at brands pay agencies and what they actually get for their money.</span></p><p>At the center of the issue are media rebates. Media companies (in TV, newspapers, digital, radio, and so on) pay them to agencies to keep client dollars (in the form of ad buys) rolling in. Even when those dollars may be more efficiently spent elsewhere.</p><p>Usually, most client-agency contracts insist that all discounts, rebates, and benefits earned by media spending be returned to the client. But if a TV station returns a discount to a media-buying agency there is no way for the client to know about that payment if the agency does not disclose it.</p><p><span style="background-color: #ffffff;">Agencies have been accused of padding their margins with these payments.</span> Clients haven't bothered to pursue them because it would be complicated and resource-intensive to do so. Critics regard them as bribes or kickbacks. Agencies have defended them as a legitimate way to maintain their profitability and note that if clients felt they were being ripped off they would go elsewhere.</p><p>Media rebates are set to become such a big problem this year that <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/pivotal-research-group-downgrades-wpp-publicis-omnicom-and-ipg-2015-4">Brian Wieser, an analyst at Pivotal Research Group, has downgraded his stock ratings for all of the advertising agency holding companies Pivotal covers </a>- reducing IPG from buy to hold, and WPP, Omnicom, and Publicis Groupe from hold to sell. He advises investors in advertising agency companies to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/pivotal-research-group-downgrades-wpp-publicis-omnicom-and-ipg-2015-4">"move to the sidelines" or "exit the sector altogether</a>."</p><h3>The world's biggest advertising agency holding groups deny there is a problem</h3><p>The controversy surrounding rebates, kickbacks, and agency transparency is not new. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/inside-the-posterscope-fraud-that-rocked-aegis-2012-7">In 2012 the former president and finance director of Posterscope in the US, a unit of European holding company Aegis, pleaded guilty to executing $20 million in accounting fraud</a>. In 2010 <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/why-ftc-should-examine-valassis-and-news-americas-500m-settlement/">News America Marketing paid $500 million to settle an antitrust action</a> in which it was accused of rigging prices in the grocery coupon business. In the same year, <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/printing-money-secret-transcripts-reveal-how-grey-group-juggled-clients-cash/">Grey Group lost an appeals court ruling that unveiled a questionable rebate scheme in its London and New York offices</a>, that went back decades. <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-scale-of-the-stupidity-at-leo-burnett/">Publicis agency Leo Burnett was accused of defrauding the US Army account in 2009</a>. The list goes on.<span style="background-color: #00ff00;"><br /></span></p><p>But rebates reared their head again in March this year at the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) Forum, when former Mediacom CEO Jon Mandel alleged that agency "kickbacks" are still "widespread" and cited them as one of the reasons he left the agency world, <a href="http://adage.com/article/agency-news/mediacom-ceo-mandel-skewers-agencies-incentives/297470/">AdAge reported</a>.</p><p>"Have you ever wondered why fees to agencies have gone down and yet the declared profits to these agencies are up?" <span>Mandel</span> said at the time.</p><p><a href="http://adage.com/article/agency-news/groupm-responds-industry-rebate-allegations/297480/">GroupM, the media division of the WPP group that owns Mediacom, denied the allegations</a>, saying: "In the US, rebates or other forms of hidden revenue are not part of GroupM's trading relationships with vendors."</p><p>The three biggest advertising agency holding groups - Publicis Groupe, Omnicom, and WPP - reported their quarterly earnings this week<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">. On the earnings calls with analysts, all three were asked about rebates. Here are their responses:</span></p><p><strong>Publicis Groupe CEO Maurice Lévy</strong></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/55392c6369bedda85183f318-1200-924/maurice-levy-2008-10.jpg" border="0" alt="Maurice Levy 2008"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/Maurice_Levy_2008.jpg">Wikimedia, CC</a></span></p><p class="caption">Publicis Groupe CEO Maurice Lévy. </p></img></div><p></p></div></div><a href="http://adage.com/article/agency-news/publicis-groupe-q1-revenues-32-boosted-sapient-deal/298146/">As reported by AdAge</a>:</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">We are not suffering at all from this kickback situation. Most of our clients know exactly what our practices are. They know that we are extremely rigorous and that we are playing by the rules. </span></p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">So we are suffering as an industry, because there has been a lot of noise, which has been made by a former Mediacom employee. But when it comes to [Publicis Groupe], we have contracts which are scrupulously respected and which have been audited on a regular basis by our clients. It's mad that there has been so much noise made about somebody who left the industry seven or eight years ago, who probably has no idea what's going on. </p><p><strong>Omnicom CEO John Wren</strong></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/552633966da811c6370c8e97-1200-924/john-wren-omnicom.jpg" border="0" alt="John Wren Omnicom"><p class="source"><span>Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">Omnicom CEO John Wren.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div>(Ahead of Wren answering the question, Omnicom Media Group CEO Daryl Simm outlined that its media agencies in the US do not seek kickbacks and that the company has "comprehensive contracts" with clients, which specify "performance requirements" too.)</p><p>"I am happy for the question because there has been a lot of innuendo and comments against the industry, and we know how we operate, and have consistently operated. So clearing the air on this is a positive thing."</p><p>"One other thing is, we are fully participating, I think, the ANA after having allowed that presentation to occur and there is now, I think, a working group between the ANA [and the 4As (American Association of Advertising Agencies).]</p><p>"It was somewhat odd to me that no specific allegation came against anybody, even though that presentation had redacted contracts and other things. So we are little bit confused. We don't find it helpful. So as quickly as jointly the ANA and the 4As can get to the conclusion the better off we will all going to be."</p><p><strong>WPP chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell</strong></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54fdc916ecad04cb42ceb0c8-1084-813/martin-sorrell-wpp.png" border="0" alt="martin sorrell wpp"><p class="source"><span>WPP</span></p><p class="caption">WPP chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Sorrell was the most forthcoming of the three agency holding groups on his company's Q1 earnings call on Thursday. <span>(IPG has yet to report its Q1 earnings.)</span></p><p>He said that trade association the World Federation of Advertisers had invited the heads of the six largest agency holding groups to discuss the issues surrounding transparency and questions from advertisers' procurement departments.</p><p>Yet only two of the six turned up. "Myself and one other," Sorrell said, not revealing who the other was.</p><p>WPP is the only one of the six agency holding groups that discloses both gross revenues versus revenues net of media trading in its earnings statements. Indeed, this is the reason Pivotal analyst Wieser said WPP is probably most "immunized" against the kickbacks/rebates issue. Sorrell has repeatedly called on his rival companies to break out their revenues in this way.</p><p>Sorrell said on the call (referring back to Wieser's initial note, calling agencies out on the issue surrounding media agency fees):</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">Until we get people who are prepared to put out those numbers - and I think the number to put out is net sales versus the revenue number - if we are looking for transparency this is really important. This is not just about programmatic [advertising,] it's barter ... broking, telesales, data investment management, other people do have some research businesses, including Omnicom. They do not show the different between revenue and net sales.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">By the way, the irony of this is that if they showed net sales they would show a different margin, and maybe you wouldn't see a 5% revenue increase evaporate into no margin increase or 10 basis points.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">We think this is really important. It wasn't so important when data was the only element of it, it was a stable element and wasn't growing rapidly. [Programmatic spend globally was $800 million in billings and is predicted to be] $1 billion this year.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">With programmatic it will be a different story. Michael Roth [IPG CEO], I remind you, he thought 50% of media buying will be programmatic this year. In that case it's material. We are nowhere near that level, and not for many years.</p><h3>Report calls client/agency relationship "disturbing"</h3><p>On Thursday, the <a href="http://www.ana.net/content/show/id/enhancing-relationships">ANA released the findings of a survey of 129 of its members and 105 agencies about the client/agency relationship</a>. And it doesn't look pretty for the agencies.</p><p>While the report found that for the most part client/agency relationships were strong, there were several pockets of dissatisfaction, namely with reference to fees:</p><ul><li><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">Clients and agencies are not in alignment on the fairness of their compensation arrangements.</strong> Agencies have much lower levels of agreement that compensation agreements are fair. Both clients and agencies are lukewarm on the value of performance-based compensation as a motivator of agency performance.</li><li><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">Clients and agencies have different views on the value procurement adds to client/agency relationships.</strong> Only 47% of clients agree that procurement adds value, while just 10% of agencies agree.</li></ul><p><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.5em;">In a press release, ANA president and CEO Bob Liodice said: "We are pleased to see that at the core, client/agency relationships are sound. Having that strong foundation is a cause for optimism. However, there are disturbing legacy issues that continue to plague the partnership that have been further complicated by blossoming transparency concerns. The ANA is committed to making tangible improvements and will be working in partnership with the 4As to actively address these issues."</span></p><h3>"There's a lot more that's going to come out"</h3><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/553910bceab8ea8832ac5d73-1200-924/adam-lutz.jpeg" border="0" alt="adam lutz"><p class="source"><span>DiMassimo Goldstein</span></p><p class="caption">Adam Lutz, managing director of Proove Accountable Media, and partner at DiMassimo Goldstein.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div>Adam Lutz worked within large agencies in New York before he quit in 2010 to form his own media division, Proove Accountable Media, within DiMassimo Goldstein, where he is now a partner.</p><p>The independent company claims to be "fully transparent" and operates no pre-arranged contracts with media owners or data providers. Its client roster includes Calvin Klein, Party Poker, and Tommy Hilfiger.</p><p>He told Business Insider: "I got frustrated because clients were not getting the best recommendations, in their best interests, [the agencies were just] fulfilling previously set agreements by the holding companies."</p><p>Lutz said agency trading desks frequently mark up their inventory - telling the client the media cost $3 CPM (cost per-thousand impressions) when it actually only cost $2 CPM, for example - and media plans for clients get thrown back because a certain allocation wasn't given (40% to Yahoo, 20% to MSN, 20% to AOL, for example), which is only based on a previous network deal (whereby the agency holding group guarantees a certain level of spend over the course of a contract, usually a year) and not the client's best interests.</p><p>He recalled a scenario from his agency days: "I met a great attribution tech startup in San Francisco. They had the coolest technology, better than any attribution modeling I had ever seen. I said 'this will be great for my client. This could be something that drives results and efficiencies.'</p><p>"The media division said 'great.' Then when we tried to get this set-up for the client it got stopped by someone senior at [the holding company] who said: 'You can't take this new tech because it's not a [holding company]-approved vendor. We have our own attribution modeling tech.' But it was built 10 years ago. It was totally outdated and a joke ... I said: "I said this is ridiculous, that thing was built 10 years ago, this is new, it's dirt-cheap. But at the end of the day I could not take it to the client. And all of this is why I left the business."</p><p>That may have been 10 years ago, but Lutz said the situation hasn't changed today.</p><p>Lutz added: "There's a lot more that's going to come out, clients are going to start questioning their agencies' practices. But agencies have been doing this for 60 years, they're very good at covering up, or saying that we do not do that any more."</p><h3>What next?</h3><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5539110569beddad5a83f318-400-300/question-mark-stamps.jpg" border="0" alt="question mark stamps"><p class="source"><span> Oberazzi  Flickr</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div>As Omnicom's Wren pointed out, no recent, specific allegations have been made. But they might be forthcoming as debate in the industry around rebates rattles on.</p><p>Business Insider contacted all the agency holding groups recently downgraded by Pivotal Research Group for comment on Wieser's notion that investors in the sector should "move to the sidelines" or "quit the sector altogether."</p><p>Only WPP responded to Business Insider's request for comment, referring us back to <a href="http://adage.com/article/agency-news/groupm-responds-industry-rebate-allegations/297480/">the previous statement given to AdAge by GroupM chief digital officer Rob Norman.</a></p><p>As previously mentioned, it will probably take more than one advertiser to speak out: It's a timely and costly exercise to audit your contractors. That becomes even more complicated in the world of programmatic advertising where a single dollar from a client's advertising budget can pass through many different vendors (<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/social-media-marketing-landscape-complicated-2012-5">as the famous LUMAscape illustrates</a>) before reaching a consumer.</p><p>Expect to read further stories like these over the coming months. There's nothing to say anybody is breaking the rules, or indeed any laws, but clients are about to apply increasing scrutiny to exactly where their marketing budgets are going, and if media is being bought in their best interests.</p><p>As Pivotal's Wieser summarized in his recent research note on Omnicom's earnings: "While we recognize that agency holding companies convey that they are transparent with clients about the topic, our conversations with suppliers and clients convey to us that many clients may not fully understand specific arrangements that are in place between suppliers and agencies. This is ultimately consistent with the views articulated at last month's ANA conference and echoed by many others in the industry as well. We continue to expect further noise to emerge on this topic over the course of the year."</p><p><em>Business Insider is investigating the client/agency transparency issue. If you would like to provide information, both on-the-record, or anonymously, please contact loreilly@businessinsider.com</em></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/lego-batman-v-superman-trailer-dawn-of-justice-2015-4">This Lego version of the 'Batman v. 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Nobody wants to talk about the 'disturbing' issue plaguing the advertising industry right now

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5538ebb46da8117a4be5e1c6-1200-924/shh-8.jpg" border="0" alt="shh"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/_lovenothing/4597262012">FlickrCC/Zoe</a></span></p><p class="caption">Nobody's talking.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div>There's a problem permeating the <keyword id="35666" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="advertising">advertising</keyword> industry. It has been going on for years. And barely anybody within the agency world wants to admit it even exists.</p><p>There's a lack of transparency about what <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">marketers at brands pay agencies and what they actually get for their money.</span></p><p>At the center of the issue are media rebates. Media companies (in TV, newspapers, digital, radio, and so on) pay them to agencies to keep client dollars (in the form of ad buys) rolling in. Even when those dollars may be more efficiently spent elsewhere.</p><p>Usually, most client-agency contracts insist that all discounts, rebates, and benefits earned by media spending be returned to the client. But if a TV station returns a discount to a media-buying agency there is no way for the client to know about that payment if the agency does not disclose it.</p><p><span style="background-color: #ffffff;">Agencies have been accused of padding their margins with these payments.</span> Clients haven't bothered to pursue them because it would be complicated and resource-intensive to do so. Critics regard them as bribes or kickbacks. Agencies have defended them as a legitimate way to maintain their profitability and note that if clients felt they were being ripped off they would go elsewhere.</p><p>Media rebates are set to become such a big problem this year that <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/pivotal-research-group-downgrades-wpp-publicis-omnicom-and-ipg-2015-4">Brian Wieser, an analyst at Pivotal Research Group, has downgraded his stock ratings for all of the advertising agency holding companies Pivotal covers </a>- reducing IPG from buy to hold, and WPP, Omnicom, and Publicis Groupe from hold to sell. He advises investors in advertising agency companies to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/pivotal-research-group-downgrades-wpp-publicis-omnicom-and-ipg-2015-4">"move to the sidelines" or "exit the sector altogether</a>."</p><h3>The world's biggest advertising agency holding groups deny there is a problem</h3><p>The controversy surrounding rebates, kickbacks, and agency transparency is not new. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/inside-the-posterscope-fraud-that-rocked-aegis-2012-7">In 2012 the former president and finance director of Posterscope in the US, a unit of European holding company Aegis, pleaded guilty to executing $20 million in accounting fraud</a>. In 2010 <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/why-ftc-should-examine-valassis-and-news-americas-500m-settlement/">News America Marketing paid $500 million to settle an antitrust action</a> in which it was accused of rigging prices in the grocery coupon business. In the same year, <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/printing-money-secret-transcripts-reveal-how-grey-group-juggled-clients-cash/">Grey Group lost an appeals court ruling that unveiled a questionable rebate scheme in its London and New York offices</a>, that went back decades. <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-scale-of-the-stupidity-at-leo-burnett/">Publicis agency Leo Burnett was accused of defrauding the US Army account in 2009</a>. The list goes on.<span style="background-color: #00ff00;"><br /></span></p><p>But rebates reared their head again in March this year at the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) Forum, when former Mediacom CEO Jon Mandel alleged that agency "kickbacks" are still "widespread" and cited them as one of the reasons he left the agency world, <a href="http://adage.com/article/agency-news/mediacom-ceo-mandel-skewers-agencies-incentives/297470/">AdAge reported</a>.</p><p>"Have you ever wondered why fees to agencies have gone down and yet the declared profits to these agencies are up?" <span>Mandel</span> said at the time.</p><p><a href="http://adage.com/article/agency-news/groupm-responds-industry-rebate-allegations/297480/">GroupM, the media division of the WPP group that owns Mediacom, denied the allegations</a>, saying: "In the US, rebates or other forms of hidden revenue are not part of GroupM's trading relationships with vendors."</p><p>The three biggest advertising agency holding groups - Publicis Groupe, Omnicom, and WPP - reported their quarterly earnings this week<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">. On the earnings calls with analysts, all three were asked about rebates. Here are their responses:</span></p><p><strong>Publicis Groupe CEO Maurice Lévy</strong></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/55392c6369bedda85183f318-1200-924/maurice-levy-2008-10.jpg" border="0" alt="Maurice Levy 2008"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/Maurice_Levy_2008.jpg">Wikimedia, CC</a></span></p><p class="caption">Publicis Groupe CEO Maurice Lévy. </p></img></div><p></p></div></div><a href="http://adage.com/article/agency-news/publicis-groupe-q1-revenues-32-boosted-sapient-deal/298146/">As reported by AdAge</a>:</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">We are not suffering at all from this kickback situation. Most of our clients know exactly what our practices are. They know that we are extremely rigorous and that we are playing by the rules. </span></p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">So we are suffering as an industry, because there has been a lot of noise, which has been made by a former Mediacom employee. But when it comes to [Publicis Groupe], we have contracts which are scrupulously respected and which have been audited on a regular basis by our clients. It's mad that there has been so much noise made about somebody who left the industry seven or eight years ago, who probably has no idea what's going on. </p><p><strong>Omnicom CEO John Wren</strong></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/552633966da811c6370c8e97-1200-924/john-wren-omnicom.jpg" border="0" alt="John Wren Omnicom"><p class="source"><span>Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">Omnicom CEO John Wren.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div>(Ahead of Wren answering the question, Omnicom Media Group CEO Daryl Simm outlined that its media agencies in the US do not seek kickbacks and that the company has "comprehensive contracts" with clients, which specify "performance requirements" too.)</p><p>"I am happy for the question because there has been a lot of innuendo and comments against the industry, and we know how we operate, and have consistently operated. So clearing the air on this is a positive thing."</p><p>"One other thing is, we are fully participating, I think, the ANA after having allowed that presentation to occur and there is now, I think, a working group between the ANA [and the 4As (American Association of Advertising Agencies).]</p><p>"It was somewhat odd to me that no specific allegation came against anybody, even though that presentation had redacted contracts and other things. So we are little bit confused. We don't find it helpful. So as quickly as jointly the ANA and the 4As can get to the conclusion the better off we will all going to be."</p><p><strong>WPP chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell</strong></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54fdc916ecad04cb42ceb0c8-1084-813/martin-sorrell-wpp.png" border="0" alt="martin sorrell wpp"><p class="source"><span>WPP</span></p><p class="caption">WPP chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Sorrell was the most forthcoming of the three agency holding groups on his company's Q1 earnings call on Thursday. <span>(IPG has yet to report its Q1 earnings.)</span></p><p>He said that trade association the World Federation of Advertisers had invited the heads of the six largest agency holding groups to discuss the issues surrounding transparency and questions from advertisers' procurement departments.</p><p>Yet only two of the six turned up. "Myself and one other," Sorrell said, not revealing who the other was.</p><p>WPP is the only one of the six agency holding groups that discloses both gross revenues versus revenues net of media trading in its earnings statements. Indeed, this is the reason Pivotal analyst Wieser said WPP is probably most "immunized" against the kickbacks/rebates issue. Sorrell has repeatedly called on his rival companies to break out their revenues in this way.</p><p>Sorrell said on the call (referring back to Wieser's initial note, calling agencies out on the issue surrounding media agency fees):</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">Until we get people who are prepared to put out those numbers - and I think the number to put out is net sales versus the revenue number - if we are looking for transparency this is really important. This is not just about programmatic [advertising,] it's barter ... broking, telesales, data investment management, other people do have some research businesses, including Omnicom. They do not show the different between revenue and net sales.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">By the way, the irony of this is that if they showed net sales they would show a different margin, and maybe you wouldn't see a 5% revenue increase evaporate into no margin increase or 10 basis points.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">We think this is really important. It wasn't so important when data was the only element of it, it was a stable element and wasn't growing rapidly. [Programmatic spend globally was $800 million in billings and is predicted to be] $1 billion this year.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">With programmatic it will be a different story. Michael Roth [IPG CEO], I remind you, he thought 50% of media buying will be programmatic this year. In that case it's material. We are nowhere near that level, and not for many years.</p><h3>Report calls client/agency relationship "disturbing"</h3><p>On Thursday, the ANA released the findings of a survey of 129 of its members and 105 agencies about the client/agency relationship. And it doesn't look pretty for the agencies.</p><p>While the report found that for the most part client/agency relationships were strong, there were several pockets of dissatisfaction, namely with reference to fees:</p><ul><li><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">Clients and agencies are not in alignment on the fairness of their compensation arrangements.</strong> Agencies have much lower levels of agreement that compensation agreements are fair. Both clients and agencies are lukewarm on the value of performance-based compensation as a motivator of agency performance.</li><li><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">Clients and agencies have different views on the value procurement adds to client/agency relationships.</strong> Only 47% of clients agree that procurement adds value, while just 10% of agencies agree.</li></ul><p><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.5em;">In a press release, ANA president and CEO Bob Liodice said: "We are pleased to see that at the core, client/agency relationships are sound. Having that strong foundation is a cause for optimism. However, there are disturbing legacy issues that continue to plague the partnership that have been further complicated by blossoming transparency concerns. The ANA is committed to making tangible improvements and will be working in partnership with the 4As to actively address these issues."</span></p><h3>"There's a lot more that's going to come out"</h3><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/553910bceab8ea8832ac5d73-1200-924/adam-lutz.jpeg" border="0" alt="adam lutz"><p class="source"><span>DiMassimo Goldstein</span></p><p class="caption">Adam Lutz, managing director of Proove Accountable Media, and partner at DiMassimo Goldstein.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div>Adam Lutz worked within large agencies in New York before he quit in 2010 to form his own media division, Proove Accountable Media, within DiMassimo Goldstein, where he is now a partner.</p><p>The independent company claims to be "fully transparent" and operates no pre-arranged contracts with media owners or data providers. Its client roster includes Calvin Klein, Party Poker, and Tommy Hilfiger.</p><p>He told Business Insider: "I got frustrated because clients were not getting the best recommendations, in their best interests, [the agencies were just] fulfilling previously set agreements by the holding companies."</p><p>Lutz said agency trading desks frequently mark up their inventory - telling the client the media cost $3 CPM (cost per-thousand impressions) when it actually only cost $2 CPM, for example - and media plans for clients get thrown back because a certain allocation wasn't given (40% to Yahoo, 20% to MSN, 20% to AOL, for example), which is only based on a previous network deal (whereby the agency holding group guarantees a certain level of spend over the course of a contract, usually a year) and not the client's best interests.</p><p>He recalled a scenario from his agency days: "I met a great attribution tech startup in San Francisco. They had the coolest technology, better than any attribution modeling I had ever seen. I said 'this will be great for my client. This could be something that drives results and efficiencies.'</p><p>"The media division said 'great.' Then when we tried to get this set-up for the client it got stopped by someone senior at [the holding company] who said: 'You can't take this new tech because it's not a [holding company]-approved vendor. We have our own attribution modeling tech.' But it was built 10 years ago. It was totally outdated and a joke ... I said: "I said this is ridiculous, that thing was built 10 years ago, this is new, it's dirt-cheap. But at the end of the day I could not take it to the client. And all of this is why I left the business."</p><p>That may have been 10 years ago, but Lutz said the situation hasn't changed today.</p><p>Lutz added: "There's a lot more that's going to come out, clients are going to start questioning their agencies' practices. But agencies have been doing this for 60 years, they're very good at covering up, or saying that we do not do that any more."</p><h3>What next?</h3><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5539110569beddad5a83f318-400-300/question-mark-stamps.jpg" border="0" alt="question mark stamps"><p class="source"><span> Oberazzi  Flickr</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div>As Omnicom's Wren pointed out, no recent, specific allegations have been made. But they might be forthcoming as debate in the industry around rebates rattles on.</p><p>Business Insider contacted all the agency holding groups recently downgraded by Pivotal Research Group for comment on his notion that investors in the sector should "move to the sidelines" or "quit altogether."</p><p>Only WPP responded to Business Insider's request for comment, referring us back to <a href="http://adage.com/article/agency-news/groupm-responds-industry-rebate-allegations/297480/">the previous statement given to AdAge by GroupM chief digital officer Rob Norman.</a></p><p>As previously mentioned, it will probably take more than one advertiser to speak out: It's a timely and costly exercise to audit your contractors. That becomes even more complicated in the world of programmatic advertising where a single dollar from a client's advertising budget can pass through many different vendors (<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/social-media-marketing-landscape-complicated-2012-5">as the famous LUMAscape illustrates</a>) before reaching a consumer.</p><p>Expect to read further stories like these over the coming months. There's nothing to say anybody is breaking the rules, or indeed any laws, but clients are about to apply increasing scrutiny to exactly where their marketing budgets are going, and if media is being bought in their best interests.</p><p>As Pivotal's Wieser summarized in his recent research note on Omnicom's earnings: "While we recognize that agency holding companies convey that they are transparent with clients about the topic, our conversations with suppliers and clients convey to us that many clients may not fully understand specific arrangements that are in place between suppliers and agencies. This is ultimately consistent with the views articulated at last month's ANA conference and echoed by many others in the industry as well. We continue to expect further noise to emerge on this topic over the course of the year."</p><p><em>Business Insider is investigating the client/agency transparency issue. If you would like to provide information, both on-the-record, or anonymously, please contact loreilly@businessinsider.com</em></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/lego-batman-v-superman-trailer-dawn-of-justice-2015-4">This Lego version of the 'Batman v. Superman' trailer is absolute gold</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="xlMzRudDrPpcn4CpqKepYCVBbT_X-eEG" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'xlMzRudDrPpcn4CpqKepYCVBbT_X-eEG',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

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