The Brief – Friday 1 May: WPP’s fossil fuel clients, X’s ad platform overhaul, Spotify’s new verified artist badge

⛽ WPP has been accused of breaching its own climate policy in support of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement after an investigation by The Guardian and DeSmog found that the ad agency has facilitated $1.5bn in adspend by ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell and BP in the US market since 2015. This figure is nearly twice the respective amounts linked to Omnicom and IPG. (The Guardian)

📱 X is launching what it has billed “the most ambitious advertising platform overhaul in the company’s 20-year history”. Its new Ads Manager will have a “sleeker” design and will include retrieval and ranking systems. (X)

📰 Reach is increasing its cover prices across most of its leading newspaper titles beginning this weekend. Most dailies will see price increases of around 20p, with new cover prices ranging form £3.15 for the Cambridge News to £2.20 for the Stoke Sentinel. (HoldtheFrontPage)

🤖 Meta is opening its ad ecosystem to third-party AI tools in an open beta to eligible global advertisers, allowing them to use their preferred AI tools to create and manage Meta campaigns. At launch, Meta’s AI connectors will support tools including AI assistants that support Model Context Protocol, such as ChatGPT and Claude. (Digiday)

✂️ Netflix has begun rolling out its new mobile app in the UK, US, Australia and other markets. The new app includes a vertical video feed called “Clips”, which shows short-form clips from shows, movies and other content on Netflix. (The Verge)

🎖️ Spotify is continuing to tackle its AI artist problem by rolling out a “Verified by Spotify” badge aimed at helping listeners more easily identify actual human artists. Artists must meet certain criteria to receive the badge, such as an identifiable artist presence on and off platform (e.g., concert dates, merch, linked social accounts) and consistent listener activity and engagement over time. (TechCrunch)

💭 Mail Metro Media has teamed up with the Alzheimer’s Society to publish its first co-created interactive ad product, called Deep Dive. Written by the Daily Mail‘s editorial team, the format aims to educate readrs on the early warning signs of dementia. Mail Metro Media claims it generated 400,000 views within 24 hours of being published across its digital platforms. (Mail Metro Media)