Maurice Levy, the chairman and chief executive of Publicis Groupe, has told Campaign that whoever succeeds WPP's chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell needs to be "a good human being -- not wicked and nasty."

The marketing industry has taken the next step to cut down on ad fraud by offering publishers, agencies and ad tech providers the ability to verify their solutions if they actually reduce the risk of fraudulent advertising. JICWEBS, which was set up in the UK by ISBA, the IAB and the IPA to promote trusted digital ad trading, is to provide certifications to companies pursuing positive advertising strategies.

The food and drink industry has said it would welcome plans to introduce more stringent rules around advertising food and drinks that are high in salt, sugar and fat to children as the ad regulator launches an investigation. The Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) is today launching a consultation on new rules on how brands can target children in non-broadcast media, including online.

Concerns that ministers will have too much power over the BBC because they will be able to appoint six members of its executive board, were raised by the corporation's director general after the publication of the white paper on its future. Tony Hall called the change in the BBC's governance the "most significant reform in the BBC's history."

Popular fast food chain Pret A Manger now accepts Android Pay, according to tags on payment terminals in one of its London outlets, suggesting an imminent launch of the mobile payment service in the UK. Google announced in March that it would introduce Android Pay in the UK within months but did not give an exact release date.

Facebook is poised to overtake Channel 4 and Sky to become Britain's third-biggest media owner by ad sales by the end of next year, in a sign of the social giant's growing importance for marketers and agencies. Only Google and ITV should be larger than Facebook in Britain by the end of next year, according to estimates compiled by Campaign.

To mark its annual Interact conference, the IAB's pan-European leadership body has released a study demonstrating that the value of the online advertising grew 13.1% last year to hit EUR36.2bn, surpassing the EUR33.3bn European TV market in the process. The details were contained in the IAB Europe's 10th annual AdEx Benchmark research.

Instagram has introduced a "new look" with a redesign of its logo created in a bid to unify its family of apps (including Boomerang and Layout) into a "simpler, more consistent" design. Although the social media giant has kept its iconic camera, it now features a more streamlined guise set to a backdrop featuring rainbow colours. It has also taken its name out of the logo.

The Asian owners of the Three mobile phone network will try to resurrect a plan to create Britain's largest mobile phone network after European regulators blocked the GBP10.25 billion takeover of O2. The European Commission's decision will be welcomed by consumer groups and Britain's regulators, including Ofcom and the Competition and Markets Authority.

UK retailers saw like-for-like sales drop 0.9% in April after wet weather deterred consumers from spending big on clothes. Total sales for the four weeks to 30 April were flat, according to the latest British Retail Consortium KPMG sales monitor -- the second month in a row that this has been the case. Meanwhile, online sales growth in non-food fell to 6.6% -- the slowest rate for three years.