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Ministers are being urged not to overlook one of the UK’s most advanced AI sectors, as new research from IAB UK reveals digital advertising is already delivering artificial intelligence at scale across the economy, with 95% of businesses in the sector now using the technology. The findings highlight a significant knowledge gap between the UK’s ambition to “win the AI race” and the sectors currently driving real-world adoption. While just 16% of UK businesses overall report using AI, adoption in...

The beginning of 2025 saw the release of the very first TV+ profile for the Gold Standard – our response to the increasingly apparent lack of cohesion for such a rapidly growing channel. Looking back at that specification now, it’s clear that we were yet to truly understand the nuance and complexity of the ecosystem, as we naively attempted to take much of our work in the digital landscape and simply transpose it over. TV+ is not a linear channel, but neither is it completely digital. The...

IAB UK has released an updated edition of Futurescape, its forward-looking industry study, with new analysis identifying localised media strategies and immersive experiences as two of the most significant forces set to reshape advertising by 2030. Originally launched last year, the study has been refreshed with new data, forecasting and insights, expanding its framework to 13 key shifts that will define how brands reach and engage audiences over the next decade. The report draws on interviews...

The UK NPM is a scoring system used to assess the nutritional composition of food and drink products. The score a product achieves on the NPM determines whether it is classed as 'high in fat salt and sugar' (HFSS). Products that are classed as HFSS have been subject to online advertising restrictions since 2017 but may also be covered by the ‘less healthy’ (LHF) online advertising ban if they fall within one of the Government’s 13 LHF product categories. The Government recently confirmed that it...

There’s no such thing as a quiet start to the year in tech, media and advertising policy. Over the last three months, Government, Parliament and regulators have put out statements around AI, online safety for children, advertising fraud, and local media sustainability. Here's a summary of the key developments you need to know. Social media and children In January, members of the House of Lords backed an amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to introduce a ban on social media for...

The industry is abuzz with the possibility of a world of autonomous AI systems. Agentic was the key theme of our recent Techtonic 2026 event, but the future can only be agentic if it’s built on common standards. Agentic was a hot topic in Palm Desert at the IAB US’ Annual Leadership Summit last week, and the consensus from industry leaders was the need for interoperability: "Interoperability is essential to maintaining performance while unlocking the next phase of automation." Ryan McConville...

The UK’s digital advertising market continues to expand at pace. According to the latest IAB UK Digital Adspend Study, conducted with Oliver Wyman, digital ad spend reached £40.5bn in 2025, representing 10% growth year-on-year and significantly outperforming the wider UK economy. Alongside that growth, one theme is becoming increasingly clear: the role of AI and automation across digital advertising is accelerating rapidly. Nearly half of industry respondents, 48%, now identify AI as one of the...

The UK digital advertising market has now surpassed £40bn, reaching £40.5bn in 2025, according to the latest IAB UK Digital Adspend Study, conducted with Oliver Wyman. Much of that growth is being driven by environments where audiences spend a growing share of their time, particularly social platforms and video. Social media investment increased by 21% to £11.5bn, while video advertising grew by 20% to £9.3bn. Within social platforms specifically, video now accounts for 59% of total investment...

The UK’s digital advertising market reached £40.5bn in 2025, according to the latest IAB UK Digital Adspend Study, conducted with Oliver Wyman. While the overall market grew by 10% year-on-year, one format stood out in particular. Video advertising increased by 20% to £9.3bn, making it the fastest-growing major format and accounting for 23% of total digital spend. For those working across the evolving television and streaming ecosystem, this growth highlights an important shift in how...

The UK digital advertising market has crossed a significant milestone. According to the latest IAB UK Digital Adspend Study, conducted with Oliver Wyman, total digital ad spend reached £40.5bn in 2025, growing 10% year-on-year and significantly outpacing UK GDP growth of 1.4%. Among the standout performers was retail media, which grew 18% year-on-year to £3.8bn. But this isn’t simply another fast-growing channel. It reflects a deeper structural shift in how advertisers are planning, measuring...

Day 1 Leadership Summit 2026 opened with a strong sense of momentum, and a clear challenge to the industry. Across the first day at Sopwell House, speakers returned to a common theme: in a period defined by AI, uncertainty and shifting expectations, growth alone is not enough. Leadership, trust and clarity will determine what comes next. After welcome remarks from James Chandler, Chief Strategy Office at IAB UK, the day moved through big-picture industry questions, deeply personal leadership...

For decades, competitive intelligence in advertising was relatively straightforward. You could see who owned the billboards, which magazines they dominated, and how frequently they appeared during prime-time news. Visibility was built into the system. Then the screen changed. As television evolved into a connected, data-driven ecosystem, transparency disappeared. The rise of Connected TV (CTV) delivered unprecedented targeting precision but it also created walled gardens where spend, strategy...

Investment in video, spanning social platforms, broadcasters, streamers and publishers, outpaced total market growth, rising 20% year-on-year to £9.3bn. Video now accounts for 23% of total digital ad spend, with TV+ representing 34% of all video investment. This growth reflects advertisers’ increasing focus on high-impact, full-funnel formats. Social media spend rose 21% to £11.5bn, accounting for 28% of the market. Within this, video continues to drive momentum, now making up 59% of total...

LEAD centred on a shared concern: trust is fragile, declining across society, and fundamental to the future effectiveness of advertising. Throughout the day, speakers returned to the idea that advertising does not exist in isolation; it is shaped by politics, media behaviour, technology, platforms, creators and wider public sentiment. Advertising, politics and national value Political contributions stressed that advertising plays a vital role in economic growth, funding free media, supporting...

At its 2026 Annual Leadership Meeting, IAB shared a series of updates spanning market outlook, AI governance, measurement and industry leadership, outlining how the organisation plans to support the advertising ecosystem through a period of continued growth and rapid technological change. US ad spend forecast points to continued growth IAB’s latest Outlook Study forecasts 9.5% growth in U.S. advertising spend, driven primarily by digital channels. Social media, TV+ and retail media are expected...

The report shows that search and online display accounted for 83% of total UK ad spend in Q3, growing 14.6% year-on-year, reinforcing digital’s central role in advertisers’ media strategies. Video On Demand (VOD) also delivered strong performance, rising 17.0% in the quarter, supported by major summer sporting events and increased viewing of ad-supported streaming services. Online radio recorded growth of 19.2%, reflecting continued shifts in listening towards digital platforms, apps and smart...

1. What is the Gold Standard? The Gold Standard is an industry initiative run by IAB UK that aims to address ad fraud, uphold brand safety, improve the user experience, bolster supply chain transparency, and help compliance with GDPR e-privacy law. It does this by combining existing industry initiatives and tools from IAB Tech Lab, IAB Europe, TAG, and the Coalition for Better Ads. 2. How long has the Gold Standard been around? The Gold Standard launched in 2017, following a high-profile brand...

We are pleased to announce that an updated version of the Gold Standard TV+ specification is now open for public comment. Details about the updates can be found below, and feedback can be submitted via [email protected]. The Gold Standard & TV+ Since the TV+ profile launch at the beginning of 2025, we’ve gained valuable insight into how digital TV is operating and where the biggest challenges lie. Put simply, TV+ is currently affected by inconsistent signals, variable formats, and...

Techtonic brought the industry together for a single, fast-paced day of insight, debate and practical direction, focused on one central question: how does advertising evolve as AI moves from tools to agents? Opening the event, our Director of Industry Relations, Alex Kozloff, welcomed a room packed with publishers, platforms, agencies and ad tech leaders before handing over to Anthony Katsur, CEO of IAB Tech Lab, who set the tone with a clear message: agentic AI is not a reset, it’s the next...

As we head into a new year, it’s worth grounding ourselves in why IAB UK exists in the first place: to make the digital advertising industry better. Better for brands, agencies, platforms, publishers and, ultimately, the millions of people who use the ad-funded internet every day. That means keeping our foot on the pedal when it comes to raising standards and continuing to push adoption of the Gold Standard. There’s a huge amount of excitement around AI, and rightly so. It has the potential to...