A major concern is brewing in the South African media, advertising and communication industry. A trend that was recently exposed in the US by the American Association of Advertisers (ANA) is also happening on our shores on a seemingly widespread scale. Some major players in the industry have revealed that rebates and other non-transparent business practices are "pervasive" in the South African media advertising-buying ecosystem — despite agency groups persistently saying they don’t take rebates or commission when pitching to clients. There has been a growing suspicion among marketers that the media costs and rebates they receive via their media agencies are not transparent and there are hidden costs that benefit the agencies and media owners. In addition, these discounts and rebates are not passed on to the advertisers or clients who pay for the advertising in the first place. In the US, the ANA became suspicious about this trend when media agencies started opening "trading desks" i...
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