Publicis Groupe’s $2.2 billion acquisition of advertising technology company LiveRamp has moved closer to completion after the two companies reached an agreement with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to protect the platform’s neutrality and ensure fair access for competitors.
Under the proposed consent order, Publicis and LiveRamp must provide nondiscriminatory access to LiveRamp’s products and services for five years. They are also prohibited from denying, degrading or restricting customers’ access to the platform.
The agreement requires Publicis to establish safeguards preventing it from accessing or using LiveRamp customers’ data and confidential business information. An independent auditor will review compliance every six months during the first two years after the deal closes, followed by annual audits for the next three years.
Publicis said the agreement reflects commitments it had proposed proactively and reaffirmed its intention to maintain LiveRamp as an open ecosystem connected to third-party agencies and platforms.
The order also prohibits Publicis from retaliating against LiveRamp customers who raise compliance concerns with the FTC. Customers can request an audit of the company’s compliance with data protection, privacy and security obligations concerning their information.
The proposed agreement was opened for public comment on October 19 for 30 days. The acquisition is expected to close by the end of 2026, subject to the remaining requirements.
However, the regulatory safeguards may not be enough to ease concerns among Publicis’ competitors and other industry players. WPP has indicated that it is winding down its agencies’ use of LiveRamp, while Omnicom has accelerated its planned exit from the platform following the acquisition announcement.
LiveRamp has long served as a neutral intermediary in the digital advertising ecosystem, connecting data from publishers, technology providers, agencies and brands. Its platform helps marketers combine disparate datasets to target audiences, activate campaigns and measure performance, while its clean-room technology supports privacy-conscious data collaboration.
The acquisition, announced in May, has raised concerns among marketers about whether LiveRamp can maintain its independence under the ownership of a major advertising holding company. The FTC’s agreement seeks to address those concerns through access requirements, data-protection safeguards and independent oversight, although the extent to which these measures will reassure competitors remains uncertain.
