YouTube controversy shakes up digital advertising as brands pull adverts

Over the past five years, Google and Facebook have cut a conquering swath through the market for digital advertising, snatching ever more business from legacy media companies, such as print newspapers and magazines. But a growing scandal involving the inadvertent placement of ads next to extremist content on Google’s YouTube video has raised questions about whether the balance of power is about to shift again.

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Vivendi chief stokes hopes of Havas merger

Arnaud de Puyfontaine, chief of the French media company, told delegates at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference that he had been working closely with Yannick Bolloré, head of Havas and son of Vivendi’s chairman and main shareholder Vincent Bolloré, and that he believed a tie-up made sense. “It is a fine line between the two operations,” he said

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Havas Reports 3.4% Growth In Q1

Havas reported that its revenue grew 7.8% in the first quarter to 506 million euros (about $569 million at today’s exchange rate) with organic growth, which strips out the impact of currency fluctuations, acquisitions and asset sales, was 3.4%.

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Havas Buys Research Firm CSA

French-based marketing services company Havas has announced the acquisition of MR group CSA and the Intervalles agency, from Bolloré Group, which is the majority shareholder in Havas itself.The acquired firms – which have combined gross margin of EUR 16m and headcount of 160 – were both wholly owned subsidiaries of Bolloré, which owns 60% of […]

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Havas buys Just:: Health Communications among other acquisitions

Havas Health acquired London-based agency Just:: Health Communications for an undisclosed sum. The PR shop is primarily known for its work in public affairs and its digital expertise, and its current client roster includes GlaxoSmithKline, Roche, AbbVie, Pfizer and Sanofi. The agency houses 34 employees. The senior team at Just:: Health, led by MD Kirsty […]

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Havas Reports Organic Growth of 7.1% in First Quarter

Havas reported organic growth of 7.1% and a revenue increase of 20.6% to $525 million for the first quarter of 2015. The strongest regions were North America, with revenue up 10.2% to $199 million, and Asia Pacific and Africa, where revenue grew by 10.1% to $40 million. Within that region, revenue in China wasup 17%. […]

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Havas Group Reports 9.4% Profit Growth For 201

Havas reported today that net income for 2014 grew 9.4% to 140 million euros (about $149 million at today’s exchange rate). Operating profit margin for the year was 14.1%, up three-tenths of a percent. Last month Havas reported that it had a 5.2% full-year 2014 revenue gain to 1.865 billion euros (approximately $2.126 billion) and organic growth for […]

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Havas Group has acquired German health and wellness agency Bird & Schulte

The German agency covers a range of sectors including advertising, digital media, events and medical education and will now operate as Havas Life Bird & Schulte. Donna Murphy, global CEO of Havas Health, said: “Our partnership will combine industry-leading strategy and insight with highly honoured creativity to deliver best-in-class results for our clients with a grater market reach.

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Havas Health acquires Bird & Schulte Advertising in Germany

The Havas Group has acquired Bird & Schulte Advertising, an award-winning agency based in Freiburg, Germany. The German agency, which offers a full spectrum of services for Rx and OTC, including advertising, digital media, events and medical education, will continue to build on its more-than-20-year track record of serving up what its clients’ brands need to succeed

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