Acadia Co-Founder and CEO, Jared Belsky, has published a new AdWeek op-ed on why Acadia returned a six-figure sum in media rebates to 53 qualifying clients in 2025 and why the rest of the industry needs to follow suit.
Jared makes the case that rebates are earned through client dollars and belong to clients. Yet across the industry, agencies have quietly made rebate income a structural part of their margins, often without any disclosure.
Industry research puts the global rebate economy at roughly $40 billion annually, and most clients have no idea it's happening.
The op-ed calls on brands to ask harder questions, tighten their contracts, and demand transparency. And it challenges agencies to recognize that a business model dependent on pocketing client money is a broken one.
Read the full op-ed here.
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