BT's Openreach division, which runs the UK's broadband infrastructure, should become a distinct company within the BT group, according to regulator Ofcom. Campaigners said the changes cannot come soon enough for the millions of people who have suffered "woeful levels of service from Openreach." The media watchdog has resisted calls to split Openreach off entirely.

Amazon will step up its drone tests in UK airspace after winning approval from the Government to lift strict flying restrictions in a major boost to its plans for unmanned delivery aircraft. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has granted the Internet retailer special permission to test its aerial vehicles without several of the rules that typically bind drone pilots.

Cheil London has partnered with specialist healthcare agency Wethepeople London to launch Cheil Health, a new service dedicated to servicing global and local healthcare and pharmaceutical clients. The joint venture will be headed up by Cat Davis, Cheil's chief growth officer for the UK and Europe, and John Perkins, wethepeople London's managing partner.

Social data is becoming a key part of online marketing campaigns. But how do marketers deal with the fact that most social networks operate as walled gardens? Google and Facebook have come to dominate the advertising landscape, and as such brands have little choice but to use those platforms' proprietary audience data to target users with advertising.

Aaron Sherinian, the chief marketing and communications officer for the United Nations, has warned brands that they can no longer stay silent on global social issues if they want to retain a consumer following born out of brand love. Sherinian told The Drum that younger consumers are now demanding that brands start taking action to address issues related to sustainability.

GroupM is intent on raising the bar in digital advertising by tasking John Montgomery with expanding ad accountability and clamping down on fraud globally. As brand safety officer, Montgomery -- also executive vice president -- will work to ensure "the highest standards for digital advertising viewability, third-party audience verification, and anti-piracy controls."

The outgoing minister was quick to tell "The Drum" that as his replacement Matthew Hancock takes the reins, the advertising industry has to make a point of getting on his radar -- and fast -- revealing that one of the challenges he faced during his tenure was overseeing a sector that is happy to go it alone. And that sometimes means it has forgotten about at the highest level.

The history of advertising is the history of culture and society. Since World War II, we have seen four distinct eras of communication, each the child of its age. The age of function, the age of emotion and the age of ideology have brought us to where we are today. We are now in the age of the audience -- where, for the first time, the people we are trying to reach are in the driver's seat.

Social media attacks on celebrities have been thwarted after Instagram handed Taylor Swift and other high-profile users the special ability to block thousands of Internet trolls. The photo-sharing Web site -- beloved of the American pop star and fellow celebrities including Beyonce and Kim Kardashian -- has granted its most popular users a new tool that allows them to prevent insults.

Guardian Media Group operating losses have escalated by a further GBP10m to GBP68.7m for the year to the end of March. "The Guardian" and "Observer" publisher briefed in March that operating losses were expected to be GBP58.6m. But the "FT" reports that the final audited figure, to be released on Wednesday, will be even higher. GMG declined to comment.