NewsGuard Backer Publicis Buying AdTech Company that Pitched Blacklists as 'Anti-Racism' Tool
Summary
Publicis Groupe, the French advertising conglomerate that led the 2018 seed round for news blacklist organization NewsGuard, has signed a $2.2 billion deal to acquire LiveRamp, an ad-tech company whose former head of products argued in Forbes that ad-blocking technology was part of the tech industry's fight against racism. The deal would bring together two companies with a history of support for online censorship.