🚨 Late Fee U-Turn, Google’s Ad Crackdown & PCH’s $18M Slip-Up | Marketing's Most Wanted

Hi Marketing Wranglers,

This week, we’re diving into a trifecta of compliance chaos — from the CFPB’s sudden policy pivot to Google’s ongoing antitrust showdown and a massive FTC payout that proves fine print still matters. As Q2 ramps up, these stories are a reminder that marketing, legal, and compliance are more intertwined than ever.

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🚨 In This Week’s Issue

✉️ Your Invitation is Waiting: Join the newest community for legal, compliance, and marketing professionals + a new webinar.

💳 $8 Late Fee Cap Scrapped — CFPB Switches Sides: What this flip-flop means for credit card marketers and compliance teams.

🔍 Google’s Ad Empire on Trial: Why the DOJ wants to dismantle Google’s core platforms and how it could reshape digital advertising.

💰 PCH’S $18M Reality Check: The FTC says “no more games” as it cracks down on deceptive sweepstakes marketing.

✉️ You’re Invited – Connect with others who care about marketing compliance as much as you do.

Let’s be honest— an email newsletter isn’t cutting it. With regulations changing by the minute, we built the Warrant Slack community so marketing, legal, and compliance experts can stay sharp together. (It’s free!)

Bonus: As a member, you’ll get priority invites to community events—including our upcoming New York Tech Week programming—and access to exclusive webinar and training recordings.

→ Join the community here.

Tune In: Marketing Under Fire: Surviving the CFPB’s New Era [Webinar]

May 29 @ 3 pm ET | LinkedIn

We’ll cover:
- What the BNPL rollback means for marketing claims and disclosures
- How state regulators and advocacy groups are stepping into the vacuum
- Common compliance risks that are still getting flagged
- How leading fintech teams are adjusting review processes with AI

If you’re responsible for customer-facing content in financial services, this is a session you won’t want to miss.

RSVP on LinkedIn.

💳 $8 Late Fee Cap Scrapped — CFPB Switches Sides

In a major reversal, a federal judge in Texas has vacated the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) $8 cap on credit card late fees. The rule, originally designed to save U.S. households billions in excessive fees, is now officially dead—ironically, at the request of the very agency that created it.

What’s Happening?

Last year, the CFPB introduced a regulation limiting most credit card late fees to $8, aiming to cut back what the agency described as “junk fees” and potentially save Americans $10 billion annually. This move was praised by consumer advocates but swiftly challenged in court by a coalition of banks and business groups. (They love a challenge)

By 2025, under new leadership aligned with the Trump administration, the CFPB reversed its stance and sided with the lawsuit—arguing it had overstepped its authority in creating the rule.

Judge Mark Pittman of the Northern District of Texas, after two failed attempts to transfer the case out of his courtroom, ruled in favor of the banks and vacated the rule entirely.

The lawsuit, brought by groups including the American Bankers Association and U.S. Chamber of Commerce, claimed the fee cap conflicted with federal law, which permits fees that are “reasonable and proportional.”

Bankers Cheer, Advocates Push Back

Banking industry groups declared the decision a “win for consumers and common sense,” arguing that the cap would have led to more late payments, lower credit scores, and reduced access to credit. They say higher fees serve as an important financial deterrent.

BConsumer rights organizations on the other hand, like the National Consumer Law Center, say the ruling allows big banks to continue charging inflated late fees—fees that often far exceed what it actually costs to process a late payment.

What’s Next? More Rollbacks Likely

This isn’t an isolated event. The CFPB under acting director Russell Vought has frozen or reversed several Biden-era rules and dropped enforcement actions against major financial institutions like Capital One. We’ve covered most of these in previous issues.

Overdraft fee caps and new oversight rules for payment apps are next in line for repeal. What was once a consumer-first agency is now operating with a sharply different agenda.

Bottom Line: The CFPB’s backtrack on the $8 late fee cap marks a broader shift in federal financial regulation. Consumers are likely to see higher fees again—unless Congress or future administrations act to reinstate limits.

Read the full article in the NY Times.

🔍 Google’s Ad Empire on Trial

In a landmark April ruling, a U.S. District Court declared that Google monopolized the open-web digital advertising market, setting the stage for one of the most consequential antitrust battles in tech history.

Now, the Justice Department and Google are locked in a fierce standoff over the future of the internet’s most valuable ad infrastructure.

What’s at Stake: AdX, Ad Manager, and Chrome

The DOJ wants Google to divest from AdX (Ad Exchange) and Google Ad Manager, claiming these tools give the company unfair control over how digital ads are bought and sold. It’s also calling for the sale of Chrome—Google’s web browser—under a separate ruling about its search monopoly.

Together, these platforms are the pipes of the modern internet: AdX powers real-time ad auctions, Ad Manager controls ad placements for publishers, and Chrome is the gateway most users take to reach the web. The DOJ argues this vertically integrated stack blocks competition and limits consumer choice.

Google’s Counteroffer: Tweaks, Not Teardowns

Google has no interest in selling off its crown jewels. Instead, it’s proposing targeted changes:

• Allowing rival publisher ad servers to place real-time bids on AdX
  

• Letting publishers set individual price floors for each bidder
  

• Keeping Chrome, but offering more flexibility in default search engine settings

The company calls the DOJ’s demands “extreme” and says divesting Ad Manager would “risk breaking a tool” that benefits small businesses, publishers, and advertisers alike.

The Bigger Picture for Marketers

If the DOJ succeeds, this could reshape how digital advertising works—from real-time bidding to performance tracking, pricing, and audience targeting. For marketers, especially in finance, healthcare, or regulated industries, it would raise new compliance concerns around data visibility, platform neutrality, and how ad content reaches end users.

The proposed breakup would also challenge the walled gardens of Big Tech—potentially unlocking new ad opportunities and forcing companies to rethink their media strategies.

Check out Engadget for more details.

💰 PCH'S $18M Reality Check — FTC Forces Sweepstakes Giant to Pay Up

That knock on your door from the Prize Patrol might be exciting, but for over 280,000 Americans, the real prize is finally arriving in the mail—refund checks from the Federal Trade Commission's landmark case against Publishers Clearing House.

The FTC has forced PCH to cough up $18 million after accusing the sweepstakes giant of running a sophisticated scheme that primarily targeted senior citizens and lower-income consumers.

If you've ever felt that rush of excitement from a PCH email claiming "YOU'VE WON!"—only to discover you needed to make a purchase first—you weren't imagining things.

The House Always Wins (Until Now)

The investigation revealed PCH's playbook was far from a game of chance:

• The Big Lie: Creating the impression that buying products improved your odds of winning (Spoiler alert: It doesn't.)

• Inbox Deception: Sending misleading emails disguised as tax documents or urgent winner notifications

• Fee Frenzy: Sneaking in unexpected shipping costs while making refunds nearly impossible to obtain

• Vulnerability Targeting: Designing tactics to appeal to seniors and economically vulnerable consumers

The Sweepstakes Wake-Up Call

This enforcement action sends shockwaves through marketing departments everywhere. The days of aggressive, ambiguous promotional language are ending as the FTC sharpens its focus on:

• Subject Line Truthfulness: Email headlines that create false urgency or impersonate official communications

• "Risk-Free" Really Means Risk-Free: No more hidden conditions or complicated return processes

• Transparent Fee Structures: All costs must be clearly disclosed upfront

• Vulnerable Consumer Protections: Special scrutiny for marketing aimed at seniors or economically disadvantaged groups

Your Compliance Checklist

If your business runs sweepstakes, contests, or subscription offers, now is the time to:

1. Review all promotional language suggesting purchases affect contest outcomes

2. Audit email subject lines for potentially misleading claims

3. Simplify refund processes and clearly disclose all fees

4. Ensure "risk-free" offers don’t have any hidden conditions

The PCH settlement isn't just another headline—it's the FTC drawing a line in the sand for marketing tactics across industries. As the regulatory landscape shifts, the real winners will be businesses that prioritize transparency over tricks.

Read more on WGAL.

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