What you need to know in advertising today
The investigation, which was first reported by trade magazine Campaign in June, involves the FBI examining the ad industry's media-buying practices including agencies receiving rebates from media outlets.
To read more about the investigation and the agencies involved, click here.
In other news:
'The vision is far ahead of practicality and reality:' AT&T's plan to reinvent TV advertising is massively ambitious - and still very much unproven. AT&T unveiled newly-named Xandr, its advertising and analytics division, at the AT&T Relevance conference this past week.
Facebook is going right after the $70 billion TV ad market - by adopting some of the TV industry's sales techniques for Watch. Facebook is testing upfront buying for advertisers with packages of genre-based video ads that they can buy across Watch and newsfeed video - similar to YouTube's Google Preferred program.
Facebook's targeting users with ads using data they provided for security reasons - and it shows why the company still can't be trusted on privacy. Facebook is using contact information collected about users in surreptitious ways to target them with ads, according to a new research paper.
HBO is 'pivoting away' from professional boxing, 45 years after broadcasting its first match."Our audience research informs us that boxing is no longer a determinant factor for subscribing to HBO," Peter Nelson, the executive vice president of HBO Sports, told The New York Times.
'We think there's a need for a more focused publication:' Skift wants to expand from travel and dining into wellness. Revenue is expected to increase 45% this year across advertising, events and subscriptions.