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What is the Member Vault? The Member Vault is IAB UK’s dedicated space for sharing member-written thought content that celebrates digital advertising’s creativity, innovation and effectiveness. It’s where we spotlight the insight, ideas and opinions shaping the future of digital – from trends and education to new approaches and success stories. What do we publish? Thought leadership Research Podcasts Videos Member-led events We don’t publish press releases or company news announcements - but if...

Published today, the ASA’s new study explores how older adults feel about the way they’re represented – or not represented – in advertising and reveals that a significant proportion of the UK public see common portrayals of older people as cliched, unrealistic or even harmful. Over a third of people surveyed (35%) believe older people are negatively stereotyped in ads, while 49% say humour at the expense of older adults is likely to offend. Respondents also expressed frustration at being...

The launch of the consultation follows Privacy Sandbox’s announcement in April that it is maintaining its current approach to offering users third-party cookie choice in Chrome, dropping plans to introduce a standalone prompt. The commitments were originally established to ensure that Google’s Privacy Sandbox would be developed in a way that protects consumers and maintains healthy competition in the digital advertising sector. By imposing these commitments, the CMA aimed to safeguard the...

As digital advertising adapts to growing regulation and shifting user expectations, privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) are increasingly coming to the fore. But while the term is cropping up with greater frequency, understanding of what PETs actually are - and how they can be applied in practice - remains patchy. At a breakfast briefing hosted at IAB UK, industry experts gathered to cut through the jargon, explore real-world use cases and discuss what’s needed to scale adoption. Here’s what we...

After two years of extensive stakeholder engagement across England & Wales, the IAB’s local digital advertising roadshow arrived in Manchester – marking the last stop in a journey that has taken in Newcastle, Stoke, Cardiff and Leeds. Each roundtable has brought together a rich mix of voices, including MPs, councillors, academics, small business owners, local journalists and community leaders. The Manchester event saw the launch of our latest report, Powering-up, and offered a moment to reflect...

“Thought provoking, entertaining, sometimes delightfully unhinged content is kind of part of our every day - and that's not a trend that's changing anytime soon”, said James Chandler, Chief Strategy of IAB UK, opening our 2025 Engage event at Soho Place. What followed was a fast-paced, insight-rich tour of how brilliant content - from social feeds to podcasts to news brands - is capturing our attention and setting the cultural agenda. Here are some of our top quotes from the morning… 1. “The...

In partnership with Reach, we’ve been on the road - from Newcastle to Cardiff , Stoke to Leeds - meeting MPs, councillors, local business leaders, and regional press to better understand how digital advertising can unlock growth for local businesses, publishers and people. The insights we’ve gathered have been invaluable. They’ve helped us engage in honest, productive conversations about what’s working and what needs to be better - whether that’s helping SMEs use digital channels more...

LLM Content Ingest API Initiative Announcing the news at its annual summit, IAB Tech Lab has put forward a proposal for a framework that would see publishers compensated for the use of their content by large language models (LLMs) and AI agents. Tech Lab reports that the framework will incorporate mechanisms that: Enable brands to control how their content is integrated into LLMs and AI agent services. This effort focuses on developing a technical specification to help publishers respond to...

This month’s Joy of Digital Award goes to ‘Coast to Coast: The Scenic Route’ – a brilliant, branded content series that sees comedians Babatunde Aléshé and Finlay Christie take a laugh-filled road trip across Ireland’s most iconic coastal routes (watch below). Created by Tourism Ireland and Channel 4, in partnership with The Guardian, the digital-first campaign blends travel inspiration with plenty of laughs, resulting in a format that feels genuinely original and endlessly scrollable. From...

At the start of this year, we updated the IAB Gold Standard in two significant ways. Firstly, we expanded the scope of the criteria so that it encompasses CTV and retail media companies for the first time via tailored specifications. Secondly, we added a sustainability pillar to the initiative to help limit carbon emissions in the supply chain, by addressing inefficient ad refresh rates and implementing bid floors to limit computational load. So where are we six months on from the refresh? I’m...

From 5 January 2026 , paid-for online ads for ‘less healthy’ HFSS (high fat, salt, or sugar) products will be banned by law. However, as a show of goodwill, and in preparation for legal enforcement, the Government has asked that advertisers comply with the ban voluntarily from 1 October 2025 (the previous implementation date for the restrictions – more on why this changed here). The ban applies to all UK-targeted ads, regardless of the audience's age. There’s also a ban on TV ads before 9pm, but...

Following months of uncertainty, the Government has confirmed that it will explicitly state in law that brand ads (i.e. ads that do not feature LHF products) are exempt from the ‘Less Healthy Food & Drink’ (LHF) ad ban. Originally, the Government had said that brand ads were not intended to be included in the ban, but this was not stated clearly within the law - leaving it to regulators to interpret and implement. At the IAB, we have said from the outset that our members and the wider industry...

The Belgian Market Court has rejected the APD’s view that IAB Europe is a joint controller (together with TCF participants) for their respective processing of personal data for purposes such as digital advertising. This is in line with the ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in March 2024 . The Market Court annulled the APD’s February 2022 decision , pointing to procedural irregularities and the fact that the APD failed to adequately justify why it considered TC Strings...

Retail remains king, tech is surging, and finance is making a comeback - those are our standout findings from Guideline’s latest data on UK media agency spending by category. The 2024 data shows a digital advertising landscape that’s not just shifting, but smartly evolving, with agencies rebalancing spend across search, social, and display to drive both performance and brand building objectives. The most significant trend? A sharp rise in social media investment. Agencies ramped up social spend...

Dove has scooped April’s Joy of Digital Award with its creator-led campaign #ShareTheFirst – a global call to ditch filters and embrace unedited beauty in a world of endless retakes. Created with Edelman, the content stars a diverse group of creators encouraging people to #ShareTheFirst snap they take, before filters, angles or second-guessing take hold and launched with a digital takeover of Liverpool Street Station. “What makes #ShareTheFirst stand out is its beautifully simple challenge to an...

Background The IAB is the not-for-profit trade body for the digital advertising industry with members from some of the biggest companies in the world including Google, Meta, Amazon, News UK, Spotify, Microsoft and TikTok. Our purpose is to build a better future for digital advertising, for the benefit of everyone. We do this through a range of activities including events, training, research, setting standards, helping the industry to remain self-regulated and more. You can find out more about us...

So you’ve joined the IAB, you’ve had a read through Futurescape and been to a Last Thursday Club - but what else is on offer? Here we provide an overview of how you can get the most out of your IAB membership. And don’t forget: membership is on a company-wide basis, so every member of your team can access our resources.

The latest figures from the Advertising Association and WARC show that UK advertising spend rose by 10.4% to reach £42.6bn in 2024, as strong digital growth continued to shape the market. Online formats collectively grew by 13.2% year-on-year, accounting for four in every five pounds spent on advertising. Search and online display – including social and retail media – were key contributors, with search alone reaching £16.9bn and retail media up 22.7%. You can find out more here. Commenting on...

The UK’s total digital ad market grew 13% year-on-year in 2024, according to IAB UK’s latest Digital Adspend report Investment in video display outpaced total market growth, up 20% to £8.3bn, as advertisers continued to seek out high-impact formats to capture audiences’ attention IAB UK forecasts that total digital ad spend will grow 7% in 2025 to reach £38bn Commenting on the results of Digital Adspend, Jon Mew, CEO of IAB UK, said: “Whether you’re watching a podcast on your phone or streaming...

Investment in video display - spanning social channels, publishers, outstream, AVOD and BVOD - outpaced total market growth, up 20% to £8.3bn, as advertisers continued to seek out high-impact formats to capture audiences’ attention. 64% of all online display spend now invested in video, up from 51% five years ago. This acceleration in advertisers’ video spend correlates with audiences’ behaviour. All age groups under 55 years are spending more hours per week watching digital video vs linear TV...