The FTC announced its approval today of a consent agreement governing the acquisition by Omnicrom of The Interpublic Group – both offer (inter alia) media buying services.  The agreement allows the purchase but prohibits Omnicrom from directing ad spending to or away from any publisher based on the “political or ideological viewpoints” of the publisher or of nearby content on the publisher’s platform unless it’s pursuant to the terms of a specific agreement between Omnicrom and the company doing the advertising and purchasing Omnicrom’s services.  And even if one company has an explicit banned- or preferred-publisher list (or asks Omnicrom to come up with one), the agreement stops Omnicrom from sharing that list with any other client.

The agreement sure seems like it’s going to make it significantly harder for Omnicrom to effectuate a client’s “Please don’t show my ad next to Nazi propaganda” wish.  But also, on its face, it also seems like it’s going to make it significantly harder for Omnicrom to create a business model favoring certain kinds of “political or ideological” advertising, or placing ads targeting Republicans or Democrats? 

Unless Omnicrom is effectively a common carrier – and I’ll confess I don’t know the shape of the industry enough to know – it’s hard to see how this squares with the company’s First Amendment rights…