In today’s Digest, we discuss Publicis advising clients to avoid The Trade Desk, Meta missing 1,000 illegal financial ads in Britain over one week, and Alibaba forming a new AI business group.

Publicis urges clients to avoid The Trade Desk

Publicis Groupe has instructed certain clients to pause working with demand-side platform (DSP) The Trade Desk following an independent audit that raised concerns over fees and media spend. According to an email obtained by ADWEEK, the audit by FirmDecisions found that The Trade Desk “improperly applied DSP fees to other charges” for tools automatically added to client accounts, without evidence that clients or Publicis authorised the purchases. The report also noted that the DSP “did not provide our auditor with the information necessary to validate that the media and data costs were invoiced at cost, without mark-up,” as per existing agreements.

A Publicis spokesperson confirmed the memo’s authenticity, saying, “We have a responsibility to our clients to conduct thorough due diligence when it comes to our vendors”. The Trade Desk rejected the claims, calling the audit failure assertion “not true” and explaining that the auditor had requested data that would have breached customer and partner confidentiality agreements.

Meta misses 1,000 illegal financial ads in Britain

Meta Platforms has repeatedly allowed illegal advertisements for high-risk financial products to appear on its UK platforms, despite pledges to prevent them, according to a review by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The FCA examined a single week in November and found 1,052 ads for currency trading and other complex financial instruments posted by unauthorised advertisers. Alarmingly, 56% of these came from accounts Meta had previously been warned about.

Internal Meta documents, reported by Reuters, indicate that billions of users globally have been exposed to fraudulent e-commerce and investment schemes, illegal gambling, and banned medical products. The FCA had cautioned last year that UK users were increasingly targeted by online trading scams, prompting the review to assess Meta’s enforcement efforts.

Alibaba forms new AI business group

Chinese tech giant Alibaba Group  has unveiled a new business unit to centralise its AI operations. The division, named Alibaba Token Hub consolidates several AI initiatives, including the Tongyi Laboratory, the model-as-a-service business, the Qwen AI assistant, the Wukong department tasked with building an AI platform for enterprises, and the AI innovation unit, according to a company statement. The new unit will be led by Alibaba Group CEO, Eddie Wu.

In an internal memo, Wu described the move as a bid to seize a “historic opportunity” as AI agents become increasingly integral to digital workflows.