Editor's Perspective: Will WPP gamble pay off for News International?(Editorial)

Gambling is a growth industry. One of Macau's mega casinos raked in more than dollars 750 million profit last year. A pile of chips almost as high as those accumulated by Publicis Groupe in 2011.

Casinos might be more lucrative than agencies, but WPP remains the high roller among the ad holding companies. And even a Mormon preacher would be tempted by the odds faced by Sir Martin Sorrell's group in the recent closed pitch for News International.

Following negotiations between Sorrell and Rupert Murdoch's embattled publisher, agencies from WPP had to win. Nonetheless, the outcome of the process (The Week, page 9) throws up some points of interest. The move of the ad …