Our story

Since 1997, IAB UK has been championing the growth, diversity and evolution of digital advertising, helping it mature from a £8.1m industry to one worth over £35.5bn a year today. When we opened for business, the first ad server was just two years old, Google was yet to officially launch and the flip phone was the height of innovation. To put it simply, the internet was in its infancy. 

The following decades brought huge change - transforming almost every aspect of how we live, work, shop and learn - and IAB UK has evolved alongside our members. However, throughout it all, our priority has been to maintain a flourishing and competitive digital ad industry to support everyone’s free access to the web. That means… 

• Championing digital creativity & innovation: Whether it’s our Joy of Digital campaign that launched in 2023, or the creation of events like our flagship Engage - which has been running since 2005 - we’ve always been committed to showcasing brilliant creativity and platforming what great advertising can do  
• Establishing shared standards: From the early days of the web when IAB-endorsed viewability standards were implemented, to the creation of the IAB Gold Standard in 2017 - designed to address shared challenges like ad fraud and brand safety - building standards and strengthening self-regulation is core to our work 
• Facilitating meaningful collaboration: Bringing together businesses from across the digital advertising supply chain has always been a unique part of what we do, and it remains so. Over the years we have had Steering Groups, Working Group and - most recently - IAB Communities to facilitate collaboration and allow us all to achieve more  
• Developing industry-leading insight: We’ve been measuring the size of the UK’s digital ad industry since 1997 - you can track almost 30 years of spend data via our Adspend Analyser. From Real_Living in 2016 to Futurescape in 2025, improving the industry’s understanding of how digital advertising works, changing consumer behaviour and developing trends is key 
• Helping members navigate change: The 2008 financial crash, introduction of GDPR, Brexit, COVID, the LHF ad ban… all have been seismic changes for our members and we’ve adapted our strategy to help support them at each turn - from establishing IAB Connected during the pandemic, to the guides and resources we’ve published to help them navigate new legislation  
• Doing things a bit differently: We haven’t always done what people expect. The launch of our ‘Don’t be a #Clickhead’ campaign in 2019 is a great example, or the legendary Ken Fawes session at Engage in 2017, or hiring an 8ft bear as our Chief Digital Cheerleader in 2023. What could be next?