Why I Returned Six-Figures in Media Rebates To Clients In 2025

I just paid 53 clients of my agency, Acadia, their share of the six figure sum in rebates we received for media purchased in 2025.

Not all of Acadia’s clients were repaid; they had to qualify based on a rubric that includes timing of the buy, amount spent, the date the client was onboarded, among other factors.

But I did this to make a statement at a time when an uncomfortable portion of agency margin is coming from pocketing media rebates that belong to our clients. 

Industry studies estimate that rebates and “non-transparent incentives” represent 3% to 10% of total spend on digital media globally, which now exceeds $600 billion. That sizes the rebate economy at $40 billion, roughly equal to the U.S. linear TV market. 

Rebates, however, are earned by client spending volume—and should go back to them, or at the very least be disclosed to them transparently. 

The silent rebate economy

As media fees have compressed over the past decade, rebates have quietly become a backdoor margin engine which that agencies have become structurally dependent on. 

Agencies aggregate millions to billions of dollars in client media spend and deploy that capital across platforms and publishers. In return for that scale, publishers often extend rebates, incentives, or volume-based credits. 

Industry benchmarks put average agency operating margins at 8% to 12%. Yet rebate income can account for 10% to 30% of total agency profit. 

At the holding company level, that can add up to several hundred million dollars a year. Even a mid-sized agency managing $500 million in billings could generate as much as $25 million a year in rebate-driven margin.

Publishers are allowed to offer rebates; it’s good business practice. What’s bad business practice at best is when agencies keep those givebacks as profit—without disclosing them to clients. 

That’s not optimization. It’s appropriation.

Opaque by design

Clients often don’t know this is happening, because the system is intentionally opaque.

Contracts are vague. Language is “commercially flexible.” Procurement teams focus on fees, not incentives. Marketers assume their agencies are acting in their best interest. And few clients ever ask publishers directly whether their spend is part of a rebate pool.

But clients can’t afford to have their rebates pocketed by agencies. They are under relentless pressure to prove ROI and justify every incremental dollar spent. 

Agencies can’t afford it, either. We face unprecedented credibility challenges, and our future depends on trust, transparency, and true partnership. 

We must change

I’m calling on the industry to once and for all move away from the rebate system. Here’s how we can do it:

Brands demand their share. Marketers must ask: Are my agency dollars contributing to any rebate, incentive, or volume-based benefit? If so, where does that value go? The only acceptable answer is, “back to you.” 

Contract language gets tighter. Contracts should explicitly state that client funds may not be included in any rebate or incentive pool without full transparency—and that any such benefit must be returned to the client on a pro rata basis. Brands should also reserve the right to verify this directly with publishers.

Agencies honor their role. Agencies exist to serve clients, not arbitrage them. As stewards of client capital, we’re fiduciaries in the same way financial advisers are. Any reward we get for spending clients’ money needs to go back to those clients. 

We return to fair, honest, and open compensation. The fact that some agencies would fold without rebate profit isn’t justification; it’s an indictment. It means both the client’s payment and the agency’s models are broken. That’s the vexing, underlying problem we need to finally confront head-on. 

Some will claim it’s hopelessly complicated to untangle individual client totals from pooled investments. Don’t believe them. We have the analytical power; all it takes is the will to do what’s right. 

The rebate economy didn’t emerge overnight, and it won’t disappear instantly. But as marketers demand accountability and regulators scrutinize media practices, the days of hidden profit pools are numbered.

We can lead change, or be forced into it.