Publicis Groupe and LiveRamp have claimed critics of their $2.2bn (£1.6bn) deal have a “self-interested agenda” and insisted the data collaboration platform will keep its “neutrality” under the agency giant’s ownership.The two companies were responding after Omnicom and Stagwell questioned the future independence of the platform and expressed concerns about “data neutrality”.Scott Howe, the chief executive of US-listed LiveRamp, wrote in a company blogpost that there had been “excitement” and “understandable curiosity” since news of the planned sale to Publicis broke on Sunday (17 May), but some industry commentary has come “from voices with a more self-interested agenda”.Separately, Arthur Sadoun, the chief executive of Publicis Groupe, told Campaign that some “competitors” were looking to “find an angle” by raising questions about whether LiveRamp could stay neutral under Publicis’ ownership. “The truth is that the technology, by design, makes LiveRamp neutral,” he said.Howe and Sadoun did not refer to any critics by name but their comments came after Omnicom, which is a LiveRamp client and an arch-rival to Publicis, said it will stop using LiveRamp in the wake of the deal and Stagwell also voiced “serious questions”.John Wren, the chief executive of Omnicom, said he was already planning to drop LiveRamp in favour of its own data operation by 2028, but he will accelerate its withdrawal.“I don’t see there is any way that you can get any value keeping LiveRamp independent of the rest of your infrastructure,” Wren told an investor conference on Tuesday (19 May), adding Omnicom was willing to “invest a little money to honour our contract” and exit LiveRamp sooner.Mark Penn, the chief executive of Stagwell, who spoke at the same investor conference, wrote on LinkedIn: “The acquisition does raise serious questions about the data neutrality and how LiveRamp’s ownership by a huge holding company might impact how other holding companies and brands would be willing to use the platform.”Howe appeared to be addressing some of those doubts when he published his blogpost, entitled “Why data protection and neutrality remain core to LiveRamp”, on the company’s website on Thursday (21 May).LiveRamp’s technology “has neutrality in its DNA” and neutrality is an “operational requirement” of its client agreements, according to Howe. “Customers remain in control” of their data and “that does not change” because of the sale, he wrote.“Our ability to remain neutral was one of the foundational reasons we decided to enter into this agreement with Publicis,” Howe added, noting the French agency group “has a proven history of protecting neutrality” with acquisitions such as Captiv8 and Influential, which have “clients outside of Publicis and many who are with competitors”.Industry reaction to the LiveRamp sale has been “overwhelmingly positive”, Howe said. “Some of the conversation in the market reflects understandable curiosity. Some of it comes from voices with a more self-interested agenda. Either way, the facts are the same: our technology, our contracts, and our business practices are built to protect neutrality and customer control.”Sadoun said it was “fair game” for some of Publicis’ competitors to focus on “the value we bring to clients with LiveRamp” as a result of the planned acquisition, “but it's ignoring what LiveRamp is at its core, that is a tech company that is designed to be independent.”He went on: “We understand perfectly that our competitors need to find an angle, but the truth is that the technology, by design, makes LiveRamp neutral. This is why we have absolutely no fear for the future [with this deal], and this is why we made the kind of commitment we made to our clients [that LiveRamp] will remain neutral”.Asked how he planned to ring-fence LiveRamp and keep it neutral while also making it available for the benefit of Publicis’ clients and the Publicis parent company, Sadoun said LiveRamp would be “connected” to — rather than integrated with — Publicis’ existing data and tech stack. The in-built “neutrality” of the LiveRamp platform means “it's not like when we use it, the neutrality goes away”, according to Sadoun.“As a standalone platform, it can serve the industry. Connected to our technology and data, it becomes a big competitive advantage for our clients,” he said, adding his 2024 acquisition of Influential was a proof point as 51% of the influencer platform's growth has come from “non-Publicis clients and competitors”.Investment analysts said the LiveRamp acquisition looked to be broadly positive for Publicis but warned perceived “conflict” was likely to be a live issue for competitors, even though the French agency group had sought to address such concerns.Tim Nollen, an analyst at Sovereign and Sector Research, said: “Conflict is a question. LiveRamp’s calling card has always been its independence and neutrality; it has developed such a broad network because it is neutral. Now, clients of LiveRamp may question the use of their data within a business now owned by Publicis.”Nollen, who published his analyst note before Wren spoke out, noted “one of LiveRamp’s largest customers” is Omnicom-owned Acxiom.LiveRamp has previously positioned itself as “the Switzerland of data” and used to be part of Acxiom. When IPG, now part of Omnicom, bought Acxiom in 2018, LiveRamp became a standalone business.This story first appeared on Campaign UK.