JPMorgan Chase & Co., GE, Sears Holdings and Nationwide are among the big brands that have recently initiated audits of their ad buyers, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. While JPMorgan has gone so far as to freeze its annual $250 million ad buying account, other companies like Heineken, Allstate and Fidelity Investments are allegedly vying for stronger auditing rights and tighter contracts with agents.

The decision to audit their media buying partners comes out of marketers’ concern over a lack of transparency in what they are paying for. In June, investigative consultants K2 Intelligence released a report on behalf of the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) uncovering a number of non-transparent practices running rampant within ad agencies. Items highlighted in the report included: cash rebates passed between media providers and agencies which clients were not party to and received no savings from; “fogginess” on prices agents spent on inventory; and conflicts of interest stemming from agents’ investment choices.

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