PepsiCo Moves $1.9 Billion Media Account To Publicis. PepsiCo has confirmed shifting its global media business from Omnicom Media to Publicis, a marker of how the largest CPG budgets are moving after holding-company consolidation. (MediaPost, Marketing Dive, Morningstar)

WPP Seeks Dismissal Of Foster Lawyers Over Sony Probe Sources. WPP is asking a New York judge to act against opposing counsel in a former executive's wrongful-termination suit, putting agency whistleblower procedure into the public record. (MediaPost, everything-pr.com)

OpenAI Says Ads Business Reaches $1 Billion Run Rate. OpenAI announced its advertising business hit a $1 billion annualized run rate, and buyers tell AdExchanger measurement and brand-safety controls determine whether test budgets grow. (AdExchanger)

Nvidia Confirms Hugging Face Acquisition For Nearly $13 Billion. Adweek reports Nvidia has confirmed buying the open-source AI platform, concentrating more of the model supply chain beneath the AI tools agencies buy and build on. (Adweek)

Also moving today:

Dentsu India's turnaround faces a fresh test (storyboard18.com)

Omnicom Media appoints David McCallen as chief strategy officer, Asia Pacific (Campaign India)

Adobe acquires Indian market intelligence startup Rilo (TechCrunch, Market Screener)

Hoka builds Strava running stats into digital OOH campaign (Marketing Dive)

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Judge Brinkema Rules Against Google Ad Tech Breakup. A federal court will not force Google to divest its ad tech business after April's monopoly finding, leaving the stack buyers and publishers work in intact. (AdExchanger, Adweek)

Publicis Lands PepsiCo Global Media, Withdraws From Coke Pitch. PepsiCo is unifying its global media account under Publicis, and a source tells Adweek the holdco will exit Coca-Cola's review, the year's largest consolidation, with a conflict cost attached. (Adweek)

FTC Sues Amazon Over Ad Pricing; Brussels Eyes ChatGPT. ExchangeWire's digest reports three buy-side regulatory moves at once, an Amazon ad-price suit, tougher EU rules for ChatGPT, and Australian digital spend at a four-year high. (exchangewire.com)

Adweek: Advertisers Press AI on Performance and Accountability. Adweek reports brands, agencies and AI labs are moving past capability demos to the harder questions of control and who is accountable when systems fail. (Adweek)

Also moving today:

WPP's Alleged Global Rebate Scheme, Told Through Three Court Cases (Adweek)

Havas bets on integration as it strengthens Village model under Paddy Affleck (The Media Leader - News analysis, opinion and insight for media and advertising professionals, decisionmarketing.co.uk)

Dentsu, Chief Communications Officer Jeremy Miller Part Ways (MediaPost)

Dentsu Offices Searched Across Four Cities In Fresh Income Tax Investigation - The Logical Indian (The Logical Indian)

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WPP reported to cut up to 1,000 more jobs. The Financial Times reports WPP will cut as many as 1,000 further roles by the end of 2026, putting a figure on the restructuring under new chief Cindy Rose. (The Business Times, News18, Finimize)

FTC alleges Amazon ad surcharges cost brands billions. The FTC alleges Amazon's ad-auction surcharges quietly extracted billions from advertisers, placing pricing transparency on the largest retail media platform under legal scrutiny. (Marketing Dive, Retail Dive, Digiday)

Omnicom merges Hearts & Science and Mediahub. Omnicom Media has confirmed a new global network, Hearts United, managing $9.1bn in billings, a signal of how the group is structuring its media offer after consolidation. (decisionmarketing.co.uk)

India tax department searches Dentsu Media offices. The Income-tax Department has searched Dentsu Media Group premises across India in a suspected tax evasion case, putting compliance scrutiny on a major network's local operations. (Economic Times, Economic Times, storyboard18.com)

Also moving today:

Godrej Consumer expands WPP Media mandate to seven global markets (Indian Television Dot Com)

Omnicom Media loses finance brands Vanguard and Australian Unity to independents (Mumbrella)

Meta Could Overtake Google Search Ad Revenue In 2026, Bernstein Says: AI Is Driving The Shift (Asianet News Network Pvt Ltd, Stocktwits, Investing.com)

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FTC sues Amazon over ad auction practices. The FTC alleges Amazon manipulated its ad auctions to the tune of more than $20 billion, an allegation, not a finding, but one that puts auction transparency on media teams' agendas. (Adweek)

Omnicom merges Mediahub and Hearts & Science. Omnicom is folding two media networks into a single entity, Hearts United, a consolidation advertisers on either roster will first see in account teams and reporting lines. (MediaPost, Indian Television Dot Com)

OpenAI ad business reaches $1 billion run rate. Digiday reports ChatGPT's ad business at a $1 billion annualized run rate as self-serve buying opens in Europe, a figure extrapolated from one month, not revenue booked. (Digiday, Adweek)

WPP's Cindy Rose marks first year as CEO. Digiday's one-year checkpoint frames WPP's turnaround as underway but unfinished, the backdrop for clients weighing its agencies in current reviews. (Digiday, Digiday)

Also moving today:

Itochu Plans 215.2 Bln Dentsu Soken Tender Offer At 2,880/Shr Yen (FinanzNachrichten.de)

Stellantis’ Olivier Francois Steps Down, But Hasn’t Driven Off Into the Sunset Yet (Adweek)

Jon Hamm Ad Kicks Off BetMGM’s AOR Partnership With Indie Agency Cape (Adweek, The Manila times, The Montreal Gazette)

Chipotle deploys 100 creators for latest ads spotlighting fresh food (Marketing Dive, Adweek)

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Omnicom merges Hearts & Science and Mediahub. Omnicom Media Group says the two agencies now operate as Hearts United, a 40-market network, reshaping client teams and reporting lines. (CNHI News, Barchart.com, Mumbrella)

Media buyers hold Meta spend after $17B settlement. Agency executives tell Adweek they are not shifting budgets away from Meta, waiting to see whether other social platforms follow. (Adweek)

Old Navy reworks marketing after soft summer traffic. Gap Inc. CEO Richard Dickson says a Cardi B campaign, the brand's most-viewed, is improving performance following a weak summer. (Marketing Dive)

Google adds Gemini video generation to Asset Studio. Google has wired its Gemini multimodal model into Google Ads' Asset Studio, letting advertisers turn briefs into campaign-ready video. (WebProNews)

Also moving today:

Advertising is losing impact: one in four professionals warns of consumers ignoring ads (Merca2.0 Magazine)

Creators are moving into brands’ AI search playbooks (Digiday)

8 Marketer Moves to Know This Week: Wendy’s, Skims, Kohl’s, and More (Adweek)

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WPP, Omnicom named first OpenAI ad partners. OpenAI has brought WPP and Omnicom on as first agency partners, but a reported self-serve Ads Manager could let advertisers buy the same inventory directly. (storyboard18.com, The Times of India, NewsDrum)

Meta removes advertiser control over ad placements. Marketing Dive reports Meta will automate placement selection, ending brands' ability to exclude specific apps from their campaigns. (Marketing Dive)

The Trade Desk positions Zuma as Kokai successor. Zuma is described as the next version of The Trade Desk's programmatic platform, putting buying teams through a second transition in three years. (Digiday, AdExchanger, Adweek)

Dentsu consolidates commerce and retail media units. Digiday reports Dentsu is expanding and combining its commerce and retail media offering under new leadership as both channels keep growing. (Digiday, Digiday)

Also moving today:

Digest: New Support for ASA Awareness Campaign; TikTok Settles Children's Privacy Case for $400m (exchangewire.com)

The Largest Shopping Mall Operator Has Its Own Retail Media Network (AdExchanger, Adweek)

Fake US thinktank set up and funded by Israel sought to game AI for propaganda (The Guardian, ynetnews, Greatreporter.com)

Claudia Johnson named chief solutions officer, integrated commerce at Omnicom Media (Indian Television Dot Com)

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OpenAI begins showing ads in ChatGPT across Europe. OpenAI says ads started appearing in ChatGPT in France and 30 other European countries on Monday, opening a new consumer surface for media buyers. (FashionNetwork.com)

Agency data tracks AI search impact on 50-plus advertisers. Digiday reports on one agency's roster-wide data on how AI search is affecting web traffic and conversions, a rare cross-account read for planners. (Digiday)

WPP asks court to seal ex-executive's amended complaint. WPP's lawyers filed Thursday to strike allegations by a former executive from the public record, arguing they are immaterial to the wrongful-termination case. (The Media Leader - News analysis, opinion and insight for media and advertising professionals)

Wendy's names Tariq Hassan chief marketing officer. Adweek reports Wendy's CEO Bob Wright publicly set out three marketing problems before the former McDonald's marketer took the role. (Adweek)

Also moving today:

Mycar drops TBWA Sydney after seven years in favour of Do Agency (Mumbrella)

10,000 Marketing Jobs Are Gone And AI Agents Took Them (Forbes)

Ad-Supported Streaming Keeps Growing While Broadcast Falls (Adweek)

2 Weeks, 4 Brand Apologies. Will Any of Them Make a Difference? (Adweek)

5 Marketer Moves to Know This Week: Klarna, Microsoft, and Gap (Adweek)

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Publicis launches NIL venture with Kelce, 3 Arts Sports. Publicis is forming a joint venture called Tekta to run college-athlete marketing deals, per Marketing Dive, a bid to consolidate a channel that has largely operated deal-by-deal. (Marketing Dive)

Digiday asks whether WPP legal exposure reaches client ties. Digiday reports WPP is facing pressure on several legal fronts and questions whether clients will factor it into their agency relationships, the answer sets how buyers price holdco reputational risk. (Digiday, Digiday)

Report: microdrama app advertisers up 132% in first half. A report cited by Marketing Dive says active advertisers on microdrama apps rose 132% in H1, positioning the category as an emerging mobile inventory pool for buyers. (Marketing Dive)

Wendy's names ex-McDonald's CMO Tariq Hassan to marketing role. Wendy's has appointed Tariq Hassan as chief marketing and customer growth officer, per Marketing Dive and Adweek, resetting marketing leadership mid-turnaround. (Marketing Dive, Adweek)

Also moving today:

Why Nuuly is betting on a microdrama for its social-first fall campaign (Marketing Dive)

Eli Lilly Debuts Advertisement Selling GLP-1s to Medicare Enrollees (Adweek)

Policybazaar hands Rs 200-250 crore media mandate to Havas Media (Indian Television Dot Com)

Why The Arena Group Has, Implausibly, Rebranded Into an AI Company (Adweek)

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WPP Seeks Seal On Foster Lawsuit Records. MediaPost reports WPP is fighting to keep details of a former GroupM executive's wrongful-termination claim sealed, a ruling that decides how much agency billing and audit practice becomes public. (MediaPost, DNyuz, Business Insider)

Omnicom Moves Omni AI Staff To Endava. Adweek reports more than 460 Omni platform employees have been transferred to outsourcing partner Endava, shifting the staffing behind Omnicom's stated AI centrepiece to an outside vendor. (storyboard18.com)

Mumbrella Reports Deep Discounting Across Australian Media. A Mumbrella investigation finds heavily discounted rates, not audience decline, are the pressure point on Australian media-owner margins. (Mumbrella)

Singapore Experts Warn On Generative AI Ad Quality. Marketing practitioners tell CNA that generative-AI ads are flooding the Singapore market faster than quality control can keep up, putting review burden back on brands and agencies. (CNA)

Also moving today:

Clemenger BBDO calls time on standalone media unit (Mumbrella)

Amazon parts ways with Droga5 ANZ (Mumbrella)

Netflix Nearly Doubles Ad Sales Commitments Again While Closing Upfront (Adweek)

Dubai advertising deals hit $408m as 683 assets tendered and Metro naming rights expand: Mada Media - Arabian Business: Latest News on the Middle East, Real Estate, Finance, and More (ArabianBusiness.com, UrduPoint, Emirates24|7)

Generation Partners announces sale of Captivate Network to National CineMedia (NASDAQ: NCMI) (Generation Partners)

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Omnicom Moves AI Platform Staff to Endava. Adweek reports Omnicom is outsourcing hundreds of the engineers and product staff behind its AI platform to IT firm Endava, a test of whether an in-house AI build is an asset or a cost line. (Adweek)

Dentsu Weighs Cutting Up to 160 Overseas Entities. Marketing Magazine Asia reports Dentsu is considering eliminating as many as 160 additional international entities by 2028, signalling how far network consolidation may run. (Marketing Magazine Asia)

OpenAI to Serve ChatGPT Ads in 31 European Markets. Digiday reports OpenAI will begin showing ads to ChatGPT users across 31 European markets on August 24, giving buyers a first read on chat-assistant ad inventory under EU rules. (Digiday, Digiday, Digiday)

Australia Passes Law Requiring Platforms to Pay for News. Australia has passed legislation requiring Meta, Google and other large tech companies to strike deals with local publishers or face a levy, a precedent agencies will track for media economics. (Tribune Online, Yahoo! Finance, International Business Times, Singapore Edition)

Also moving today:

Lawsuit alleges Sony investigated WPP's media operation and said it ran a 'global crime scheme' (DNyuz, Business Insider, Adweek)

Novo Nordisk Appoints Omnicom For GLP-1 Medication Awareness (healthcare-digital.com)

Kopp, Parkinson Propel Brand Growth For Ogilvy Group (MediaPost)

Lily Collins Signs on as Face and Shareholder of IM8, Rethinking the Celebrity Deal (Adweek)

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