The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) and Reed Smith released a white paper – Media Buying 2018: Transparency at a Crossroads – reporting on the state of transparency in the advertising industry and the recently announced FBI criminal investigation into agency media buying practices. Pursuant to the FBI's request, the ANA notified its advertiser members that the FBI was requesting cooperation in the investigation if an advertiser believes it is a victim of any fraud or other criminal activities in media buying. The white paper can be found here.
The white paper provides insight on how the advertising industry reached this point and where it may go moving forward. Among other things, the white paper includes insight on how advertisers can cooperate with the FBI, the potential scale of the FBI investigation, the nature of the potential crimes, and how advertisers can protect their interests during the investigation.
It should be noted, however, that at this point in time, no one has been charged with any crimes and criminal activity should not be inferred simply because an investigation is underway.
This article is presented for informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal advice.