The Agency Commission System in Britain: A First Sketch of its History to 1941
David S. Dunbar
The 'commission system' is the term generally used to describe the arrangement by which advertising agencies provide services to advertisers which are paid for out of the discount, or 'commission', allowed to the agencies by the media, on purchases of space or time. Pitman's Dictionary of Advertising1, published in 1930, defined 'Advertising Agency' in these terms: 'a firm which undertakes the advertising of other firms and organisations. Its remuneration is provided by special discounts allowed by newspapers, etc, to agencies...