22 September 2023 - Brussels, Belgium – This week, at DMEXCO, Cologne, IAB Europe, the European level association for the digital marketing and advertising ecosystem, hosted a meeting for its Board of Directors to designate a new Chair, Vice Chair, and other Officers.
Thomas Duhr, Member of the Board of the Bundesverband Digitale Wirtschaft (BVDW), was elected Chair, with Bethan Crockett, Legal Counsel at GroupM, taking Vice Chair. Jon Mew, CEO of IAB UK, was appointed Treasurer. Thomas Mendrina, Senior Director Partner Sales CEEMEA at Microsoft, Pierre Devoize, Deputy CEO of IAB France, Reyes Justribo, CEO of IAB Spain, and Marianne Bugge-Zederkof, Deputy CEO of Danske Medier, complete the new Executive Committee.
Reflecting on the timing of his appointment, Thomas Duhr noted that the new Board’s mandate coincides with the final months of the current European Commission and first year of the incoming one. “The digital advertising and marketing industry in Europe is entering a vital period. The importance of our industry for the European markets and society is steadily increasing. With this growth comes an ever-increasing responsibility”, said Duhr. “The role of IAB Europe, European national associations and corporate members is to build bridges between policy makers, civil society, science and our industry. It is about nothing less than securing and strengthening Europe‘s competitiveness in times of disruptive technological change. This is the only way to shape a successful future for generations to come.”
Townsend Feehan, IAB Europe CEO, welcomed the new Executive Committee as a diverse group whose breadth of experience would provide strong leadership for the organisation. “It is hard to imagine a more interesting time for a trade association than the present, as governments in Europe and beyond seek new ways to engage with industry to understand the world around them and the implications for their citizens, and make policy choices; IAB Europe is lucky to have a Board and Executive Committee that combine the vision, energy, and sense of responsibility that this one does to lead that engagement.”
Visit IAB Europe’s website for more information on the full board of Directors.
Brussels, Belgium - 7 September 2023:
IAB Europe confirms today that, following IAB Europe’s appeal against the Belgian’s Data Protection Authority (APD) decision to validate its action plan, the Belgian Market Court has rendered an interim ruling and suspended its assessment of the validation decision pending responses from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
The APD had unexpectedly decided to validate IAB Europe’s action plan in January 2023 in line with their February 2022 decision, despite the Market Court’s interim judgement of September 2022 which referred questions to the CJEU for a preliminary ruling and held that the APD was in breach of its duty of care.
To prevent the APD from pre-empting the referral to the CJEU and ensure that future iterations of the TCF are sustainable and aligned with EU-level interpretations of the GDPR, IAB Europe had filed a second appeal, this time against the APD’s decision to validate IAB Europe’s action plan.
The Market Court’s judgement shows that this validation (and enforcement) decision of the APD was taken too soon, as the Market Court explicitly indicated that the answers that will be provided by the CJEU will have a bearing on the legality of the APD decision to validate the action plan.
This judgement will therefore allow a serene completion of the remaining legal proceedings, and removes the risk of introducing changes to the TCF that may ultimately be found inappropriate by the CJEU and rolled back.
"This decision is a reassuring confirmation that while TCF evolutions can go ahead, like the recent TCF v2.2 changes," said Townsend Feehan, CEO of IAB Europe, "now is not the time to force any modifications that might be significantly affected by the Court of Justice proceedings". In particular, measures in the action plan that directly stemmed from the APD's finding that the TC String constitutes personal data and that IAB Europe should be viewed as a (joint) controller from a data protection perspective are thus set aside for now. "Ultimately, it is up to the Court of Justice to provide guidance on these issues, and the Market Court decision serves as a reminder of this point", added Ms Feehan.
An updated FAQ regarding the APD decision can be found on IAB Europe’s website, here.
Press contact:
Helen Mussard, CMO, IAB Europe - mussard@iabeurope.eu – +44 (0) 7399 919594
About IAB Europe:
IAB Europe is the European-level association for the digital marketing and advertising ecosystem. Its mission is to promote the development of this innovative sector and ensure its sustainability by shaping the regulatory environment, demonstrating the value digital advertising brings to Europe’s economy, to consumers and to the market, and developing and facilitating the uptake of harmonised business partners that take account of changing user expectations and enable digital brand advertising to scale in Europe.
Majority of Retail Media Buyers and Sellers Want Standards in Media and Attribution Measurement
6th September, 2023 - Brussels, Belgium, IAB Europe, the leading European-level industry association for the digital advertising and marketing ecosystem, today released the first pan-European definitions for Retail Media in a new comprehensive 101 Guide to Retail Media. This groundbreaking initiative created by IAB Europe’s Retail Media Working Group provides a comprehensive overview of what Retail Media is, including a breakdown of on-site, off-site and in-store definitions, and essential guidance to the buying and selling of Retail Media in Europe. The Guide serves as a valuable resource for all industry stakeholders, offering an introduction to Retail Media and its growing significance in the European Market.
Defining Retail Media for Europe
Retail Media has emerged as a powerful digital advertising tool in recent years, but as with any emerging technology or solution it is vital to first understand and define what we mean by Retail Media and to dispel any misconceptions or confusion surrounding the different aspects of it. To overcome this challenge IAB Europe’s Retail Media Working Group has created the first pan-European definitions of Retail Media in a digital advertising sphere. Working collaboratively with National IABs across Europe and drilling down into digital on-site, digital off-site and digital in-store, these definitions help provide a clear understanding of the Retail Media, and educate industry stakeholders on how to leverage it effectively.
Guide to Retail Media in Europe
To help support the definitions of Retail Media, the working group has also created a 101 Guide, designed to empower buyers and sellers to make informed decisions and achieve their advertising objectives through Retail Media. This introductory guide covers all the must-know aspects of Retail Media, including insights into how campaigns can be purchased, reasons why retail media is essential for brands, and an overview of available measurement and targeting options.
Commenting on the publication of the 101 Guide, Jason Wescott, Global Practice Lead, Commerce at GroupM Nexus said “The success of early adopters in digital retail media has driven more retailers to throw their hats in the ring. More digital retail media owners means buying becomes more complex, confusing, and highly specialised, as each retailer has their own definitions, campaign metrics and attribution windows. For advertisers, this makes it hard to compare across digital retail media platforms vis-à-vis planning budgets, strategies, and campaign activations. The IAB Europe Retail Media 101 Guide will empower the industry with key knowledge on what digital Retail Media is, how it can be bought and why it should matter to brands. Equip yourself with exactly what good looks like, so you can approach the exciting world of digital retail media, with confidence.”
Creating Standards for a Thriving Retail Media Market
A recent IAB Europe survey of over 100 Retail Media buyers and sellers found that over two thirds of buyers (70%) think the lack of standards for Retail Media is a barrier to investment. When asked about which standards are most important, the majority of buyers (90%) and sellers (84%) cited media and attribution measurement.
Commenting on the work IAB Europe is doing to advance education and standardisation in Retail Media, Townsend Feehan, CEO of IAB Europe said: "IAB Europe forecasts that ad spend on Retail Media will reach EUR 25 billion by 2026, exceeding traditional linear TV advertising. In order to fully realise this opportunity, we need to bridge the "knowledge gap" surrounding Retail Media. Our newly released pan-European definitions and the comprehensive 101 Guide will help industry stakeholders start to navigate this dynamic landscape. The clear call for standards that came through in our recent survey is driving our next move, with a dedicated new Retailer Council leading the work.”
The full guide is now available for download on the IAB Europe website here.
27th July 2023, Brussels, Belgium, IAB Europe, the leading European-level industry association for the digital advertising and marketing ecosystem, today released its ‘Guide to Improving Sustainable Business Decision-Making’. This initial guide has been created to assist businesses in the digital advertising ecosystem navigate the ever-evolving landscape of sustainability and responsible business practices.
Terms such as ‘sustainable’, ‘green’, ‘net-zero’, and ‘carbon-neutral’ to describe technology, services, and products in the digital advertising industry have increased in traction recently, making it increasingly important for businesses to understand the validity of such labels.
With the rise of greenwashing practices, where false or misleading claims are made regarding environmental efforts, it is crucial for businesses to exercise due diligence when evaluating sustainability claims and when looking to choose the partners they wish to work with. Government regulators are also intensifying their focus on combating such practices, and businesses need to ensure that their decisions align with genuine sustainability goals.
The ‘Guide to Improving Sustainable Business Decision-Making’ was written by members of IAB Europe’s Sustainability Standards Committee including, Alliance Digitale, BVDW, EssenceMediacom, IMPACT+, Microsoft Advertising, ProsiebenSat.1, and Scope3. It offers valuable insights and practical tips to help organisations make informed choices when looking to achieve sustainability in the digital advertising industry. The guide will be further supported by the development of more in-depth business reports and playbooks and sustainability scorecards that will enable market participants to consider ESG factors as well as economic benefits.
Key areas covered in the guide include tips and guidance on environmental considerations, European legislation and guidelines, anti-greenwashing principles, social considerations, and the economic benefits of sustainable decision-making.
"By launching the Guide to Improving Sustainable Business Decision-Making, we aim to support businesses in the digital advertising industry in taking crucial first steps to navigate the complex realm of sustainability," said Townsend Feehan, CEO at IAB Europe. "We believe that informed decision-making can help lead to a brighter and more sustainable future for our industry. As we look and move ahead, we eagerly anticipate enriching this initial initiative with further in-depth guidance, to empower businesses to approach sustainable strategies with greater confidence."
The full guide is now available for download on the IAB Europe website here.
Notes to Editors:
About IAB Europe
IAB Europe is the European-level association for the digital marketing and advertising ecosystem. Its mission is to promote the interests of the industry and enable cross-ecosystem collaboration amongst its national federation and corporate members to drive solutions to shared challenges and develop frameworks, standards, and programmes that contribute to sustainable growth and innovation.
About IAB Europe’s Sustainability Standards Committee
IAB Europe’s Sustainability Standards Committee was formed in October 2022 with the primary focus of bringing the industry together to create standards for the delivery of digital advertising and to help all industry participants to reduce the amount of energy consumed and carbon emissions produced through the use of digital media.
Two-thirds of European marketers rank audio’s ability to enhance wider media plans as the top driver for investment according to joint research from GroupM and IAB Europe
Media buyers plan to invest more in audio in the next 12 months
25 July 2023, LONDON, UK — GroupM, WPP’s media investment group, today announced the findings of its Europe Digital Audio Advertising Report 2023 produced by GroupM Nexus, GroupM’s industry-leading performance marketing organisation, in partnership with IAB Europe. The report explores:
The report found two-thirds (66%) of buyers plan to invest more in audio in the next 12 months. The report is based on a survey, conducted by GroupM Nexus, that leveraged the national IAB network in Europe to survey 549 advertisers, agencies, and publishers across 29 markets between May and June 2023.
Almost half (47%) of the advertisers and agencies surveyed state that audio advertising is either their top or among their top media choices. Buyers’ three main drivers for audio ad spend include the channel’s ability to enhance wider media plans (65%), raise brand awareness (55%), and reach specific audiences (48%). Investment is also diversifying across a rich variety of audio channels and ad formats, with the majority of buyers surveyed directing their spend toward streaming (59%), podcast (59%), or online radio (57%).
Marketers are optimistic about digital audio
According to the survey, two-thirds (66%) of buyers plan to invest more in digital audio advertising specifically in the next 12 months with almost one-quarter (24%) expecting to increase spend between 11% and 30%. These forecasts indicate high levels of confidence in digital audio as a channel that can make an impact with target audiences.
Daniel Knapp, Chief Economist at IAB Europe commented: “From 2018 to 2022, digital audio has outpaced all other advertising channels in Europe in terms of compound annual growth rate**. The pandemic served as a cyclical catalyst for digital audio, particularly podcasts, due to a rise in consumption. However, structural enhancements like improved measurement, simplified buying and automation continue to advance the market. The advertising industry's emphasis on attention in a screen saturated media environment, quality of reach and brand safety positions digital audio as a promising investment channel for advertisers and a potent platform for publishers to exploit context. We project the European digital audio market, which stood at €772 million in ad spend in 2022, to surpass the €1 billion mark by 2025.” *
Marketers surveyed ranked incremental reach (46%), innovative activation such as dynamic creative ads optimisation (DCO) (43%), and targeting efficiencies (42%) as the top three drivers for digital audio spend. These will play a significant role in attracting further investment over the next 18-24 months, with 76% of advertisers and agencies intending to increase their audio ad spend in this time period. Advertisers and agencies ranked smart speaker interactive ads to be the biggest opportunity for increasing digital audio budgets in the future, followed by dynamic audio ads. Cross-channel insights and activation technology, alongside advanced contextual targeting, also rank as significant opportunities to unlock digital audio growth. Capabilities that allow buyers to capture audience attention, drive consumer action, and execute informed cross-channel campaigns are critical for securing greater ad spend.
Audio ads reach audiences on the go through personal devices
Seven in 10 marketers surveyed expect to connect with their audiences via audio ads on mobile, followed by desktops and laptops (48%) and tablets (44%).
The prevalence of mobile as a key audio device implies that digital audio offers marketers a valuable opportunity to engage audiences throughout the day. Survey respondents also believe they connect with audiences via Connected TV, game consoles, and stand alone radio devices, demonstrating the pervasiveness of audio.
Harry Harcus, GroupM Nexus EMEA commented: “Audio is a channel buzzing with opportunity as buyers and publishers expect notable growth in the near future. As a medium that reaches highly engaged audiences at moments when its more visual counterparts cannot, audio is capable of complementing buyers’ wider plans and publishers’ media offerings. Advancing the technologies that enable audio advertising can unlock cross-channel optimisation and performance for buyers, in turn making audio inventory even more attractive and driving revenue for publishers.”
For further insights into current audio investment, as well as key drivers and challenges for advertisers, agencies, and publishers, the full 2023 report is available here.
ENDS
About GroupM and GroupM Nexus
GroupM is WPP’s media investment group and the world’s leading media investment company with a mission to shape the next era of media where advertising works better for people. The company is responsible for more than $60 billion in annual media investment, as measured by the independent research bureau COMvergence. Through its global agencies Mindshare, Wavemaker, EssenceMediacom, and mSix&Partners, and cross-channel performance (GroupM Nexus), data (Choreograph), entertainment (GroupM Motion Entertainment) and investment solutions, GroupM leverages a unique combination of global scale, expertise, and innovation to generate sustained value for clients wherever they do business. Discover more at www.groupm.com.
GroupM Nexus is the industry’s largest community of performance marketing experts designed to drive performance and innovation at scale for GroupM’s agencies and clients. With the most platform accreditations in the industry combined with proprietary technology, media and solutions, a culture of continuous innovation and scaled partnerships, GroupM Nexus consistently sets new benchmarks for effectiveness and efficiency across all forms of media to drive growth for the world’s leading advertisers.
ABOUT IAB EUROPE
IAB Europe is the European-level association for the digital marketing and advertising ecosystem. Its mission is to promote the interests of the industry and enable cross-ecosystem collaboration among its national federation and corporate members to drive solutions to shared challenges and develop frameworks, standards, and programmes that contribute to sustainable growth and innovation.
* IAB Europe’s AdEx Benchmark study currently measures ad spend for display, audio, social, video. Retail Media is not currently a part of the study.
Report details all factors contributing to 9.8% annual growth
Digital Audio fuels strongest format growth increasing by 22.1%
Brussels, Belgium, 13th July 2023 - IAB Europe, the leading European-level industry association for the digital advertising and marketing ecosystem, today released its full 2022 AdEx Benchmark Report following the release of the study highlights in May. Now in its seventeenth year, the report is the definitive guide to advertising expenditure in Europe covering 29 markets. It details the formats and channels that contributed to digital advertising’s annual growth of 9.8 percent in 2022, culminating in a total market value of €86bn.
Commenting on the positive market growth in 2022, Townsend Feehan, CEO at IAB Europe said, “Despite facing unprecedented macroeconomic and geopolitical challenges, such as the war in Ukraine and rising inflation, the digital advertising market demonstrated exceptional resilience, with an increase of €7.7 billion from 2021.”
Market Coverage Expansion
In 2022, the geographical coverage of the AdEx Benchmark study underwent key changes, with Belarus and Russia being excluded and Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania added as new markets. This expansion allows for a more comprehensive overview, encompassing a wider range of markets in the report.
Video and Audio Record Strongest Growth
The findings highlight audio as the fastest-growing format, experiencing a remarkable increase of 22.1% to reach €0.7 billion. Video also witnessed substantial growth, with a 13.6% increase, valuing the format's investment at €18.3 billion.
Programmatic Commands Over 57% of Display
Programmatic, excluding social, continues to account for more than half of display ad spend, with video accounting for 52.8% of the share of programmatic spend. However, huge differences in the maturity of programmatic across markets mean there is significant headroom for growth. Key markets, including France, Germany Italy, and Sweden, remain low in programmatic share in comparison to the UK.
Dr. Daniel Knapp, Chief Economist at IAB Europe, who compiled and presented the study commented, “Growth of digital advertising in Europe slowed to +9.8% in 2022. This can be attributed, in part, to a natural correction following a robust recovery in 2021 after the pandemic, which witnessed the most substantial market expansion in more than ten years (+33.8%). Additionally, the presence of macro-economic fragility and the ramifications of the war in Ukraine acted as further obstacles. Despite these challenges, the growth rate still surpasses expectations, particularly considering that digital advertising has now become a well-established media category, accounting for over 60% of total media ad expenditure, compared to less than 20% in 2009, the last year with similar growth patterns.”
View and download the full report here
Notes:
AdEx Benchmark is the definitive guide to advertising expenditure in Europe.
The data has been compiled by IAB Europe based on information provided by the national IAB offices around Europe. The report includes market size and value information for 2022 for the following markets: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, UK and Ukraine. The data represents the calendar year 2022 January- December. This is the seventeenth AdEx Benchmark study which began in the calendar year 2006. Display includes PC-based and mobile banners, rich media and video formats.
The report provides a comprehensive perspective of digital advertising spend across Europe which is essential in benchmarking market development trends, the increasingly pan-regional nature of digital advertising investments, and the role of Europe’s digital economy in a global context, attracting global start-up funding and European policy formulation.
For more information please contact:
Helen Mussard, CMO, IAB Europe – mussard@iabeurope.eu - +44 (0) 7399 919594
Marie-Clare Puffett, Marketing & Insights Director, IAB Europe – puffett@iabeurope.eu - +44 (0) 7973836917
IAB Common Commitment agreement signed by National IABs and Federations shows alignment on a work plan and framework that supports sustainable developments in Europe
Brussels, Belgium, 8th June 2023 -IAB Europe, the leading European-level industry association for the digital marketing and advertising ecosystem, today announced the release of a new European IAB Common Commitment Agreement on Sustainability signed by 21 National IABs and Federations across Europe. The Commitment demonstrates the need and wants from National Federations for a collaborative and consistent approach to the measurement methodology of carbon emissions. This includes the regulatory and policy taxonomy, and the mapping and standardisation of best practices for the delivery of ads across the digital supply chain.
Uniting on Sustainable Digital Advertising: Reducing Carbon Emissions and Taking Climate Action
The digital advertising industry has identified that the carbon emissions associated with the internet, devices, and supporting systems have reached nearly 4% of global greenhouse emissions. With these emissions projected to double in the near future, it is crucial for the industry to acknowledge the climate crisis and take decisive action now. This will help to ensure a sustainable advertising choice for brands while most importantly, helping to reduce the overall carbon footprint of the digital advertising ecosystem.
In response to this urgent need, IAB Europe, along with National IABs and Federation signatories, is committed to providing guidance and support to organisations on their sustainability journeys. By working collectively, they aim to establish consistent European standards, practices, and solutions that address the critical issues of sustainability.
The Common Commitment reflects a shared vision and dedication to a comprehensive work plan. This plan will be delivered by IAB Europe’s Sustainability Standards Committee and will involve developing strategies, guidelines, and taxonomies that align with regulations and policies while considering the broader aspects of sustainability, including environmental, social, and economic impacts. It will also help elevate work being done at a National level to bring it up to a European level in a consistent manner and will prioritise the reduction of carbon emissions specifically associated with digital advertising and emphasise the importance of climate action.
By uniting its efforts, the digital advertising industry can take significant steps towards a more sustainable future, mitigating the environmental impact and contributing to the United Nations' 17 sustainable development goals.
Commenting on the release of the Commitment, IAB Europe’s CEO, Townsend Feehan said, “The aspiration to reduce CO₂ emissions in the digital advertising supply chain will test our capacity to act in unison more than any other policy or business goal. The Common Commitment we are announcing today is a modest but critical step, enabling our European network to collaborate at an unprecedented pace internally and bringing critical mass to our engagement with global partners."
The Participating National Federations can be viewed here:
- ENDS -
Notes to Editors:
About IAB Europe
IAB Europe is the European-level association for the digital marketing and advertising ecosystem. Its mission is to promote the interests of the industry, and enable cross-ecosystem collaboration amongst its national federation and corporate members to drive solutions to shared challenges and develop frameworks, standards, and programmes that contribute to sustainable growth and innovation.
About IAB Europe’s Sustainability Standards Committee
IAB Europe’s Sustainability Standards Committee was formed in October 2022 with the primary focus of bringing the industry together to create standards for the delivery of digital advertising and to help all industry participants to reduce the amount of energy consumed and carbon emissions produced through the use of digital media.
Brussels, Belgium, 1st June - IAB Europe, representing a diverse membership of thousands of digital marketing and advertising companies, media publishers, and independent third-party measurement firms, has released a policy paper outlining its position on the draft proposal for a European Media Freedom Act. The paper aims to provide valuable insights to Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and national officials working on their negotiating positions.
The proposed European Media Freedom Act seeks to establish a common framework for media services in the internal market, addressing various aspects of the digital media landscape. IAB Europe acknowledges the significance of audience measurement provisions, particularly Article 23, and emphasises its importance for independent and pluralistic media in European democracies. Digital advertising enables media publishers to monetise their content and maintain their independence while fostering a diverse media landscape. IAB Europe recognises the investments undertaken by publishers in audience measurement for transparent pricing of their advertising services. These systems are crucial to enhance their advertising strategies, serve new advertisers online, and evaluate advertising campaigns effectively.
In its policy paper, IAB Europe supports the principle-based approach to audience measurement outlined in Article 23(1) of the draft proposal. The implementation of these principles has the potential to enhance transparency in audience measurement systems, leading to a fairer allocation of advertising revenues across the media ecosystem. However, IAB Europe asks policymakers to consider three key aspects when regulating audience measurement.
Firstly, respecting the importance of existing self-regulatory initiatives, such as Joint Industry Committees (JICs), which are well-established in many member states. These frameworks, based on self-regulation among media publishers, advertising agencies, and independent audience measurement providers, have significantly contributed to improving audience measurement systems.
Secondly, IAB Europe emphasises the need for transparency in audience measurement methodologies (Article 23(2)) to ensure fair pricing of digital advertising, questioning the effectiveness of the current draft proposal in achieving this objective. The lack of a clear definition for "providers of proprietary audience measurement systems" creates ambiguity and may unintentionally impact third-party audience measurement providers, including traditional research companies and JICs.
Thirdly and finally, IAB Europe urges policymakers to strike a balance between transparency and innovation. While advocating for increased transparency in audience methodology, IAB Europe highlights the importance of protecting proprietary methods and technology that result from substantial investments in research and development. Transparency should not impede investments in research and innovation, which are essential for the evolution of audience measurement systems.
IAB Europe stands ready to engage in constructive dialogue with MEPs and national officials to ensure that the European Media Freedom Act upholds the principle of transparency. The full policy positioning paper can be accessed here.
Brussels, Belgium, 24th May 2023 - IAB Europe, the leading association for the digital advertising and marketing industry, is thrilled to announce the winners of its highly anticipated 2023 MIXX Awards Europe, Research Awards, and Outstanding Contribution Award. This year's award competitions once again showcased the very best of digital advertising from across Europe, recognising outstanding campaigns, innovative research, and remarkable contributions to the industry.
The rigorous judging process involved a panel of esteemed experts from international organisations such as Bloomberg Media, Visa, Publicis Groupe, TikTok, The Good Loop, PHD, Samsung Ads, Freewheel and DoubleVerify, across more than ten European countries..
Under the leadership of Eddie Adedji, Global Trading & Investment Lead PMX Investment Managing Partner at Publicis, the MIXX Awards Europe Jury spent many hours meticulously assessing the campaigns, evaluating their creativity, effectiveness, and overall impact. This year, the jury evaluated the new Outstanding Contribution Award, recognising a team or individual who has made exceptional contributions to the digital advertising industry over the past 12 months. Meanwhile, the Research Awards Jury, led by Kristanne Roberts, Product Management Director at Kantar Marketplace, delved into the realm of innovative research projects that push the boundaries of digital marketing insights.
The winners were unveiled and celebrated at the Gala Awards Dinner held during IAB Europe's flagship annual event, 'Interact,' in Madrid.
This year's award recipients showcased outstanding achievements, demonstrating excellence in digital advertising and contributing to the advancement of the industry. Their innovative campaigns, cutting-edge research, and notable contributions have set new benchmarks and inspire others within the ecosystem.
The winning campaigns and projects will become a part of a new Hall of Fame on IAB Europe’s website which will be unveiled in June.
MIXX Awards Europe 2023 Winners
Brand Advertising Campaign
GOLD
HORNBACH - Letter Theft by MEDIAPLUS GERMANY
SILVER
#HairHasNoGender by Pantene by Publicis Groupe / Starcom Greece
BRONZE
HORNBACH - Garden on the run by MEDIAPLUS GERMANY
Branded Content
GOLD
HORNBACH - Letter Theft by MEDIAPLUS GERMANY
SILVER
Samsung #22EpicNights by Cheil Centrade
BRONZE
ZDF - The Terra X Elevator Quiz by MEDIAPLUS GERMANY
BRONZE
WHOOPing Ireland into Shape by Spark Foundry
BRONZE
HORNBACH - Garden on the run by MEDIAPLUS GERMANY
Campaign Effectiveness
GOLD
Bookvertising by Saatchi Creative Hub Bucharest
SILVER
Newton Action Alliance / #NotComingHome by MEDIAPLUS GERMANY | SERVICEPLAN
BRONZE
WHOOPing Ireland into Shape by Spark Foundry
Connected TV Advertising
BRONZE
Grundig Eco-Anxiety Campaign by Arcelik A.S. & Ingage Media & The Or
Digital Audio Advertising
Taking Action with Voice Technology for MSC Cruises by Xaxis & Say It Now
Digital OOH
BRONZE
The Neverending Chase by Havas Media & Havas Italy
Direct Response/Lead Generation Campaign
GOLD
Drive Yourself Healthy by Sanofi, PHD Poland, Publicis Groupe
BRONZE
Playing with the Snake by Havas Play
BRONZE
Audi Attention Optimization for Performance by EssenceMediacom
Ecommerce
BRONZE
From Worrying to Peaking at the End by Fingerspitz
BRONZE
Ice Cream Now by Unilever & Mindshare Poland
Effective Use of Data
BRONZE
Warsteiner - Thirst for Data by MEDIAPLUS GERMANY
BRONZE
meridol Turkey - Co-Pilot beat human intelligence! by Wavemaker Turkey & GroupM Turkey
BRONZE
Ice Cream Now by Unilever & Mindshare Poland
In-Gaming
GOLD
Adopt a Mod byHavas Play
SILVER
Grand Job Experience by v8 & Kaufland Romania
BRONZE
Privacy Protectors by Twitch & WhatsApp
BRONZE
ING City in ROBLOX by GONG & ING
Influencer Marketing
GOLD
Grand Job Experience by v8 & Kaufland Romania
SILVER
Xbox – Equality Controller by Mediaplus Germany
BRONZE
Domino's Effect by Arena Media Spain
Integrated Advertising
GOLD
Drive Yourself Healthy by Sanofi, PHD Poland, Publicis Groupe
BRONZE
#HairHasNoGender by Pantene by Publicis Groupe / Starcom Greece
BRONZE
ZDF - The Terra X Elevator Quiz by MEDIAPLUS GERMANY
Non-Profit/Corporate Social Responsibility
GOLD
Newton Action Alliance / #NotComingHome by MEDIAPLUS GERMANY | SERVICEPLAN
SILVER
The Bear Right Tax Initiative by TheNEW
SILVER
Vodafone - Every 11 Minutes by VMLY&R Istanbul
Product Innovation
SILVER
Grand Job Experience by v8 & Kaufland Romania
SILVER
NAverse by Havas Play
BRONZE
Grand Single Origin by Pom Pom Communications
BRONZE
Visibility for real by Xaxis Sweden Toyota, GroupM Nexus (Xaxis The&Partnership, Acceleration) and Tobii
Retail Media
SILVER
Vodafone Metaverse Store by VMLY&R Istanbul
Search Advertising
BRONZE
Revolutionizing Search Strategy: Samsung Smart TVs' Revenue Boost by Starcom Romania
BRONZE
Fingerspitz & Cortina – Brand term advertising on Google... do or don't? By Fingerspitz
Social Media
GOLD
HORNBACH - Letter Theft by MEDIAPLUS GERMANY
GOLD
Bookvertising by Saatchi Creative Hub Bucharest
SILVER
Newton Action Alliance / #NotComingHome by MEDIAPLUS GERMANY | SERVICEPLAN
BRONZE
On Romanian's Mother Tongue by v8 & Kaufland Romania
BRONZE
Yuki Saaki by Saatchi Creative Hub Bucharest
Sustainability Campaign
SILVER
Irish Life Responsible Pensions by Zenith, part of Core
SILVER
IKEA - naturally sustainable! by EssenceMediacom
BRONZE
Aqua Allegoria October 2022 by Guerlain & IMPACT+
Video Advertising
SILVER
HORNBACH - Garden on the run by MEDIAPLUS GERMANY
SILVER
The Bear Right Tax Initiative by TheNEW
BRONZE
April 23rd Children's Day 5G Technology by VMLY&R Istanbul
Virtual and Augmented Reality or other new technologies
GOLD
NAverse by Havas Play
GRAND PRIX
HORNBACH - Letter Theft by MEDIAPLUS GERMANY
Outstanding Contribution to the Digital Advertising Industry 2023 Award Winners
WINNER
Laura Wade
Global Head of Sustainability Strategy atEssenceMediacom
RUNNER UP
David Bauckmann, CTO at Impression Media
IAB Europe Research Awards 2023 Winners
Sustainability Measurement
HIGHLY COMMENDED
Advanced tech solution to reduce digital advertising environmental impact by IMPACT+
Audience Measurement
HIGHLY COMMENDED
Total Video Audience by Nielsen
Brand Advertising Effectiveness
HIGHLY COMMENDED
‘The impact of live optimisations on improving attention metrics and outcomes for Heinz Zero’ by Teads
HIGHLY COMMENDED
Capitalising on inspiration: Unlocking a ski resort’s potential through emotional understanding by Wunderman Thompson
Consumer Attitudes and Behaviour
WINNER
Your Online Voices: Your Voice, Your Choice by EDAA
HIGHLY COMMENDED
Kantar’s Media Reactions 2022: Which ad platforms do people prefer? By Kantar
Cross-Media Measurement
WINNER
Qreach; our brand new KPI that minimizes contact pollution and optimizes towards impactful reach by Wavemaker/GroupM
HIGHLY COMMENDED
Total Video Audience by Nielsen
Data Effectiveness
HIGHLY COMMENDED
Samsung Ads Enhanced Addressable CTV Targeting by Kantar Media
Digital Advertising and Marketing Industry Insights
WINNER
ISBA & PwC Programmatic Study II by PwC
HIGHLY COMMENDED
Collaborating with 41 parties provides the entire industry with crucial insights about awareness impact by
GroupM
Research Innovation
WINNER
ISBA & PwC Programmatic Study II by PwC
HIGHLY COMMENDED
‘The impact of live optimisations on improving attention metrics and outcomes for Heinz Zero’ by
Teads
HIGHLY COMMENDED
PHD Viewermatch byPHD UK
For more information about the award winners and to learn about upcoming IAB Europe events and initiatives, please visit www.iabeurope.eu.
European Digital Advertising Market Grew by 9.8% to a Market Value of €86bn
Total Display Accounts for 50% of Total Market Value
Brussels, Belgium, 23rd May, 2023 – IAB Europe, the leading European-level industry association for the digital advertising and marketing ecosystem, announced at its flagship conference Interact 2023 in Madrid today that digital advertising spend in Europe increased by 9.8% in 2022 to achieve a market value of €86bn.
2022 Digital Advertising Investment
Now in its seventeenth year, The AdEx Benchmark study is the definitive guide to advertising expenditure in Europe with data collected across national markets to provide a total harmonised figure for Europe. For 2022, IAB Europe has amended the geographical coverage of AdEx Benchmark to remove Belarus and Russia and add in new markets; Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, meaning the study now accounts for 29 European markets. Amongst the markets, Turkey achieved the strongest total growth of 93.3%.
Despite the economic and political headwinds in Europe, €7.7bn was added to the digital advertising market total in 2022.
Daniel Knapp, Chief Economist at IAB Europe commented on the results: “Brands are digitising their overall businesses to drive efficiencies and in the same vein are shifting advertising budgets into digital. Thus, digital advertising in Europe has experienced robust growth despite the volatile macro environment. It reinforces the importance of digital for brands during a period of downturn due to its measurability and performance.”
Audio and Video Post Strongest Growth
The study shows that audio saw the largest growth across all formats in 2022 with a 22.1% increase to €0.7bn. Video also experienced significant growth with an increase of 13.6% to value the format investment at €18.3bn. Meanwhile display grew by 9.5% to €40.1bn with search experiencing a 10.7% increase to €37.4bn.
The AdEx Benchmark Study highlights can be downloaded here.
The full AdEx Benchmark 2022 Report, which will provide full commentary and data across all 29 markets, will be published in June 2023.
---ENDS---
Notes to editors:
AdEx Benchmark is the definitive guide to advertising expenditure in Europe. The study is now in its seventeenth year and covers 29 markets. The geographical coverage of the study has changed to remove Belarus and Russia and add in new markets; Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
The study covers the following advertising formats: display, social media, video, audio, programmatic, classified, directors & affiliates and search.
Contacts:
Helen Mussard, CMO, IAB Europe - +44 (0) 7399 919594
Marie-Clare Puffett, Marketing & Insights Director, IAB Europe - +44 (0) 7973836917
18 May 2023 Brussels, Belgium - Advertising is nothing without an attentive audience. However, with consumers exposed to thousands of ads daily, securing this attention is becoming increasingly difficult. To address this challenge, today IAB Europe, the European-level association for the digital marketing and advertising ecosystem released a new guide to attention in digital marketing. The guide aims to provide an introduction to the topic and spark wider industry debate around how attention measurement should develop over the next few years.
Digital marketers face a perfect storm of challenges that threaten to disrupt existing advertising metrics, including audience fragmentation, the explosion of new creative models, and the deprecation of third-party tracking cookies. Concurrently, the advertising industry is coming under pressure to adapt to more sustainable practices to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As a result, many advertisers are looking for new measurement approaches to ensure better business outcomes and to reduce waste, which are bringing attention measurement tools and methodologies to market.
This guide to attention in digital marketing provides an overview of what attention is in digital advertising and why attention measurement is gaining interest now. "In a world where consumer attention is increasingly difficult to secure, this guide provides a valuable introduction to the topic of attention measurement in digital advertising," said Helen Mussard, CMO of IAB Europe. "It answers key questions brands are currently asking about attention measurement, including why it's important, what tools are available to measure attention, what are the use cases for these tools, and how can brands best integrate attention into their digital advertising campaigns."
The guide was written by 19 industry stakeholders from IAB Europe’s Brand Advertising committee including DoubleVerify, Microsoft, GroupM, Kantar, FreeWheel, Scibids, ShowHeros, Teads, Eskimi, PubMatic, Verve Group, Xaxis, Viznet and Vidmob. IAB Europe also worked with The Attention Council to ensure cross industry collaboration and harmonisation.
Commenting on contributing to the guide, Emmanuel Josserand, Sr Dir. Brand, Agency and Industry Relations, FreeWheel said ‘’According to our 2022 Marketers survey, Advanced TV Uncovered, one of the biggest challenges in our media industry remains measurement, often cited as one of the main inhibitors of ad spend. In such a difficult economic environment, where budgets are coming under a lot of scrutiny, reaching consumers is no longer enough. Increasingly marketers need to understand how well their campaign performed and if viewers have actually paid attention to the ads, which is where attention measurement comes in. Attention measurement has come to the forefront of industry interest as an alternative solution, due to the inability of online measurements to provide effective reports on ad exposure and the actual real impact on consumers. But attention measurement is still very new and often mis-understood. This IAB Europe Guide is an invaluable resource for anyone to explore what “attention” really means and how it can be a powerful tool in our measurement arsenal’’.
Rob Gedge, Global Solutions and Innovation Manager at Xaxis added “GroupM's focus of delivering 'fewer, more effective ads' is key to our work here at Xaxis. By measuring and optimising towards higher attention environments we can look beyond standard digital KPIs and deliver brand uplift that is more in line with clients’ business outcomes”.
The guide to attention in digital marketing is now available on the IAB Europe website for free download here.
Commenting on why brands should take notice of Attention and the new guide, Justin Adler, Director of Product Strategy - Quality and Compliance, MediaMath said "Attention is one of the most asked-about metrics by our clients, this guide by IAB Europe is a great starting point for any brands looking for next-generation metrics that correlate to the outcomes they care about most."
Important note: The Implementation deadline of TCF v2. has been moved from September 30th 2023 to November 20th 2023. More information here.
In order to continue helping players in the online ecosystem comply with certain requirements of the ePrivacy Directive and the GDPR, the Transparency & Consent Framework (TCF) Steering Group has approved iterations to the Framework. The TCF working groups have worked intensively to bring further standardisation of the information and choices that should be provided to users over the processing of their personal data, and to how these choices should be captured, communicated and respected.
Constant evolutions in case law as well as in guidelines of Data Protection Authorities (DPAs) place even higher demands on market participants in terms of data protection, and the latest Transparency & Consent Framework v2.2 (TCF v2.2) brings meaningful changes in an attempt to better meet the expectations of regulators and needs of end-users.
TCF 2.2 launches today, 16th May 2023. This article provides an overview of the main policy and technical changes as well as a detailed timeline to help all stakeholders implement TCF 2.2.
TCF v2.2 Main Policy Amendments
Please consult the relevant sections of the updated Policies for further details and IAB Europe’s blogpost here.
TCF v2.2 Technical Specifications Updates
With a view to implementing these policy changes, IAB Tech Lab has updated the technical specifications for the Transparency & Consent Framework. These changes include:
Please consult the updated Technical Specifications for further details and IAB Tech Lab’s blogpost here.
The Javascript Library that supports TCF participants’ implementation is also being updated to accommodate TCF v2.2 here.
Implementation Timeline
Please note the following deadlines:
30 June 2023
Deadline for Vendors to update their GVL registration with the new required information (as well as any other required information they failed to update previously). They can do so by logging-in to the GVL registration portal here that has been updated with new registration fields for TCF v2.2. If you don’t see your existing data in the portal, clear your cache or log-in using a different browser.
Only Vendors that update their GVL registration according to the requirements will be published in the new version of the GVL (v3).
Vendors updating their registration will also continue to be published in the current version of the GVL (v2) that will continue to run until the end of the implementation period.
The GVL v3 will start being published weekly as Vendors update their registrations at https://vendor-list.consensu.org/v3/vendor-list.json, to enable CMPs to test the new format, and to start building new user-facing disclosures in line with the requirements of the Policies. Translation will be made available progressively here.
10 July 2023 (Reminder)
Deadline for CMPs to host their scripts on a domain other than consensu.org subdomains as per the notification here.
31 July 2023
Deadline for Vendors to complete a TCF Compliance Assessment form and submit it through the GVL registration portal as part of the updated TCF Compliance programmes described here.
30 September 2023 - end of implementation period
CMPs are required to implement the new policies and specifications by 30 September 2023. CMP Framework UIs will not need to apply for re-validation. Compliance with the new requirements will, however, be verified as part of IAB Europe’s regular monitoring of CMPs’ live installations as of the implementation deadline. To support CMPs in their developments, IAB Europe has released a new CMP Validator Chrome Extension available here that includes all requirements of TCF v2.2.
Vendors are required to implement the new policies and specifications by 30 September 2023. Similar to CMPs, compliance with the new requirements will be verified as part of IAB Europe’s regular monitoring of Vendors’ live installations as of the implementation deadline.
Please visit the TCF section of IAB Europe’s website for more information or read the FAQs document here.
Dedicated webinars were held at the beginning of June for each category of participants - Publishers, CMPs and Vendors and you can watch these in your own time below.
Vendors
Webinar recording for Vendors can be watched here and the presentation deck can be downloaded here.
CMPs
Webinar recording for CMPs can be watched here and the presentation deck can be downloaded here.
Publishers
Webinar recording for Publishers can be watched here and the presentation deck can be downloaded here.
Thank you for your support!
Winners Will be Announced on 23rd May at IAB Europe’s Annual Conference Interact!
11th May, 2023, Brussels, Belgium: IAB Europe is delighted to announce the shortlist of finalists for the prestigious MIXX Awards Europe and IAB Europe Research Awards 2023. The annual award competitions showcase the very best of digital advertising from across Europe. Winners of the awards are renowned in the industry for delivering some of the best impactful and innovative work that Europe has ever seen!
Celebrating and sharing the very latest innovations in digital advertising research and campaign development is a key IAB Europe objective and we would like to thank everyone who took the time to enter.
IAB Europe would like to thank all of the jury of experts from across the digital advertising and research industry who dedicated hours of their time to reviewing and discussing all entries. This year’s jury includes experts from Bloomberg Media, Visa, Publicis Groupe, TikTok, The Good Loop, PHD, Samsung Ads, Freewheel and DoubleVerify, across more than ten European countries.
Winners Announced at IAB Europe’s Flagship Event ‘Interact’ on 23rd May!
The winners will be announced at IAB Europe’s Interact event on the 23rd May. This annual flagship event is a must-attend for the digital advertising and marketing industry. In partnership with IAB Spain, IAB Europe will be hosting two days of unmissable keynote speeches, panel discussions, and networking opportunities. 2023 will be the year of action for the industry. With a central theme of ‘Innovation, Sustainability & Growth,’ the event will cover a wide range of topics as the industry looks to become privacy first, tackle sustainability, and drive growth through innovation in the digital advertising industry.
To celebrate the shortlisted campaigns and announce the winners, a gala dinner is hosted on the evening of day 1 of the event. Tickets are available to attend just the gala dinner or a ticket can be bought to attend both the event and dinner. For more information on the agenda please visit IAB Europe’s website here - https://iabeurope.eu/interact/.
Secure your tickets here
MIXX AWARDS SHORTLISTS
Brand Advertising Campaign
HORNBACH - Letter Theft by MEDIAPLUS GERMANY
#HairHasNoGender by Pantene by Publicis Groupe / Starcom Greece
HORNBACH - Garden on the run by MEDIAPLUS GERMANY
The Goatiful Launch of Kozel in Romania by Cheil Centrade
Vodafone 23 April 5G Stadium Concert by Carat
The Bear Right Tax Initiative by TheNEW
Branded Content
HORNBACH - Letter Theft by MEDIAPLUS GERMANY
#22EpicNights by Cheil Centrade
ZDF - The Terra X Elevator Quiz by MEDIAPLUS GERMANY
WHOOPing Ireland into Shape by Spark Foundry
HORNBACH - Garden on the run by MEDIAPLUS GERMANY
April 23rd Children's Day 5G Technology by VMLY&R Istanbul
Campaign Effectiveness
Bookvertising by Saatchi Creative Hub Bucharest
Newton Action Alliance / #NotComingHome by MEDIAPLUS GERMANY | SERVICEPLAN
WHOOPing Ireland into Shape by Spark Foundry
Vodafone Freezone TikTok Launch by Vodafone Turkey
InstaGrand #Justenjoy, IT'S GOOD by Pom Pom Communications
Connected TV Advertising
Grundig Eco-Anxiety Campaign by Ingage Media
Reaching Light TV Viewers on CTV by Core
Rise to the Vacation by Samsung Ads
Digital Audio Advertising
Taking Action with Voice Technology for MSC Cruises by Xaxis and Say It Now
Thirst for Data by MEDIAPLUS GERMANY
Warm Good Night Stories by Noble Graphics
Digital OOH Advertising
The Neverending Chase by Havas Media & Havas Italy
OMNICHANNEL EXPERIENCE by VODAFONE TÜRKİYE
Direct Response/Lead Generation Campaign
Drive Yourself Healthy by Sanofi, PHD Poland, Publicis Groupe
Playing with the Snake by Havas Play
Audi Attention Optimization for Performance by EssenceMediacom Switzerland
Ecommerce
Ice Cream Now by Unilever & Mindshare Poland
From Worrying to Peaking at the End by Fingerspitz
Effective Use of Data
Warsteiner - Thirst for Data by MEDIAPLUS GERMANY
meridol Turkey - Co-Pilot beat human intelligence! by GroupM Nexus Turkey
Ice Cream Now by Unilever & Mindshare Poland
Making Race For Life Unmissable by GroupM Nexus
Audi Attention Optimization for Performance by EssenceMediacom Switzerland
Xaxis transforms media and data into outcomes for Mars by EssenceMediacom Greece
Influencer Marketing
Xbox – Equality Controller by MEDIAPLUS GERMANY | SERVICEPLAN
Domino's Effect by Arena Media Spain
Grand Job Experience by v8 &
HORNBACH - Letter Theft by MEDIAPLUS GERMANY
Playing with the Snake by Havas Play
In-Gaming
Adopt a Mod by Havas Play
Grand Job Experience by v8 & Kaufland Romania
ING CITY IN ROBLOX by GONG
Privacy Protectors by Twitch
Olips Gaming by Wavemaker
Integrated Advertising
Drive Yourself Healthy by Sanofi, PHD Poland, Publicis Groupe
ZDF - The Terra X Elevator Quiz by MEDIAPLUS GERMANY
Vodafone - April 23rd Children's Day 5G Technology by VMLY&R Istanbul
#HairHasNoGender by Pantene by Publicis Groupe / Starcom Greece
Vote for tomorrow by together& advertising agency
Native Advertising
Volkswagen and PHD agency take Petal Ads for a test drive to deliver innovative native ad campaigns by Petal Ads
Non-Profit/Corporate Social Responsibility
The Bear Right Tax Initiative by TheNEW
Xbox – Equality Controller by MEDIAPLUS GERMANY | SERVICEPLAN
Vodafone - Every 11 Minutes by VMLY&R Istanbul
Newton Action Alliance / #NotComingHome by MEDIAPLUS GERMANY | SERVICEPLAN
Banvit - It is okay just as long as there is equality in life by MullenLowe Istanbul
Turkey's first EyeBrand period tracker app Periosfer by Essencemediacom Turkey
Product Innovation
Grand Job Experience by v8
NAverse by Havas Play
Visibility for real by Toyota, GroupM Nexus (Xaxis The&Partnership, Acceleration) and Tobii
Grand Single Origin by Pom Pom Communications
Grand Vesela by Pom Pom Communications
Olips Gaming by Wavemaker Turkey
[NEW] Retail Media
Vodafone Metaverse Store by VMLY&R Istanbul
Search Advertising
Reinventing Search Strategy: How Samsung Smart TVs Utilized Video, Retailer, and Social Search to Drive Revenue Growth by Starcom Romania
Fingerspitz & Cortina – Brand term advertising on Google... do or don't? by Fingerspitz
Social Media
Bookvertising by Saatchi Creative Hub Bucharest
HORNBACH - Letter Theft by MEDIAPLUS GERMANY
Newton Action Alliance / #NotComingHome by MEDIAPLUS GERMANY | SERVICEPLAN
On Romanian's Mother Tongue by v8 & Kaufland
Yuki Saaki by Saatchi Creative Hub Bucharest
[NEW] Sustainability Campaign
Grundig Eco-Anxiety Campaign by Ingage Media
Irish Life Responsible Pensions by Zenith, part of Core
IKEA - naturally sustainable! by EssenceMediacom Switzerland
Aqua Allegoria October 2022 by Guerlain & IMPACT+
FINISH - WATER IS IN OUR HANDS by VALUECOM
Video Advertising
The Bear Right Tax Initiative by TheNEW
HORNBACH - Garden on the run by MEDIAPLUS GERMANY
Vodafone - April 23rd Children's Day 5G Technology by VMLY&R Istanbul
Colorful words feat. VALMAR by Lounge Group
On Romanian's Mother Tongue by v8 & Kaufland
Virtual and Augmented Reality or other new technologies
NAverse by Havas Play
Vodafone - April 23rd Children's Day 5G Technology by VMLY&R Istanbul
The Neverending Chase by Havas Media & Havas Italy
Olips Gaming by Wavemaker
YSL Lash Clash AR Experience by Tempo OMD Hellas
RESEARCH AWARDS SHORTLIST
Audience Measurement
Total Video Audience by Nielsen
Brand Advertising Effectiveness
‘The impact of live optimisations on improving attention metrics and outcomes for Heinz Zero’ by Teads
Capitalising on inspiration: Unlocking a ski resort’s potential through emotional understanding by Wunderman Thompson
Consumer Attitudes and Behaviour
Kantar’s Media Reactions 2022: Which ad platforms do people prefer? By Kantar
Your Online Voices: Your Voice, Your Choice by EDAA - European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance
DoubleVerify: Four Fundamental Shifts in Advertising and Media Report by DoubleVerify
Cross-Media Measurement
Qreach; our brand new KPI that minimizes contact pollution and optimizes towards impactful reach by Wavemaker/GroupM
Total Video Audience by Nielsen
Data Effectiveness
Samsung Ads Enhanced Addressable CTV Targeting by Kantar Media
Digital Advertising and Marketing Industry Insights
ISBA & PwC Programmatic Study II by PwC
Collaborating with 41 parties provides the entire industry with crucial insights about awareness impact by GroupM
DoubleVerify: Four Fundamental Shifts in Advertising and Media Report by DoubleVerify
Samsung Rips The Lid Off TV Measurement With Behind The Screens Series by Samsung Ads
Research Innovation
ISBA & PwC Programmatic Study II by PwC
‘The impact of live optimisations on improving attention metrics and outcomes for Heinz Zero’ by Teads
PHD Viewermatch by PHD UK
[NEW] Sustainability Measurement
Advanced tech solution to reduce digital advertising environmental impact by IMPACT+
[NEW] OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION AWARD SHORTLIST
Laura Wade, Global Head of Sustainability Strategy, EssenceMediacom
Lyndon M, Marketing Manager, EMEA, DoubleVerify
David Bauckmann, CTO, Impression Media s.r.o
Michal Buszko, Advanced Measurement Manager, Nielsen
Ferran Voltás, EMEA Programmatic Sales Manager at Samsung Ads
27th April 2023. Brussels, Belgium: IAB Europe, the leading European-level association for the digital advertising and marketing ecosystem, signed today a letter to policymakers on the Data Act with fellow European-level Industry Trade Associations including the Advertising Information Group (AIG), the Federation of European Data and Marketing (FEDMA), The European Confederation of Pharmaceutical Entrepreneurs (EUCOPE) and SMEUnited and its National Digital Advertising Association members including Alliance Digitale (IAB France), BVDW, IAB Ireland, IAB Poland, IAB Spain, and IAB Sweden.
The letter, sent to several Members of the European Parliament, the Swedish Presidency, and Commissioner Mr. Breton, warns of potential conflicts between the Data Act and the GDPR, emphasising the importance of ensuring a fair playing field. In particular, the letter expresses signatories’ concerns about the European Commission’s original proposal and the Council’s position on Article 6.2 (b) that clearly interfere with the GDPR and would lead to unintended consequences that will work against achieving a level playing field and impede innovation.
The signatories made a recommendation to policymakers involved in the trilogue negotiations to ensure that the Data Act aligns with the GDPR by supporting the text adopted by Parliament concerning article 6.2 (b). Furthermore, they urged policymakers to ensure that the provisions set out in the GDPR, including safeguards to user privacy, prevail for the processing of personal data. Granting that the current EU data protection legal framework will secure a future-proof Data Act text, welcoming competition, growth in the digital economy and future innovations instead of ruling them out from the outset.
The full letter can be viewed on IAB Europe’s website here and below.
Date: 27 April 2023
Dear MEP Ms del Castillo and MEP Mr Lagodinsky, MEP Mr Bielan, MEP Mr García del Blanco, MEP Ms Kumpula-Natri, MEP Ms de la Pisa Carrión, MEP Mr Mituța, MEP Mr Boeselager, MEP Ms Lizzi, MEP Ms Kontoura,
Dear Ms Björesten and Mr Källström,
Dear Commissioner Mr Breton,
Industry representatives warn of potential conflicts between Data Act and GDPR and emphasise the importance of ensuring a fair playing field ahead of the trilogue negotiations.
We are a group of diverse stakeholders, including SMEs, representing different industries within the business community, including digital advertising and marketing. As the institutions enter trilogue negotiations on the proposal for a regulation on the harmonised rules on fair access to and use of data (the “Data Act”), we would like to reiterate our concerns about the potential unintended consequences of Article 6.2 (b). These concerns apply to the wording in the European Commission’s original proposal and the Council’s position that clearly interfere with the GDPR and work against achieving a level playing field and impede innovation.
Regarding the Council’s changes to Article 6.2. (b), we fear that the scope of action for third parties is unjustifiably restricted by adding ambiguity to what constitutes an “objectively necessary” service and allowing profiling solely for the purpose of service delivery. Lack of legal certainty in the already complex digital world will trigger reticence to innovate for fear of a sanction.
While we support the changes proposed by the European Parliament for Articles 6. 2 (b) and 6.2 (c), we point out that the current wording of Article 5 (1) contradicts Article 6.2 (b) by adding an indicative list of limited purposes for data processing. On the contrary, we believe that the Data Act should be flexible and future-proof, welcoming future innovations instead of ruling them out from the outset.
The Data Act interferes with the GDPR and eliminates the legal basis of processing for third parties
By effectively prohibiting practices that are fully compliant with the GDPR in Article 6.2 (b), the Data Act substantially undermines the existing data protection framework (GDPR) and its core principle that processing of personal data is permitted so long as it relies on one of the six legal bases.
Germany’s statement on 12 January 2023 proposed to remove Article 6.2 (b) from the Data Act, arguing that “the GDPR and the sector-specific data protection law must not be circumvented and their level of protection must be maintained”. We agree that the Data Act should establish norms for a coherent legal framework and should align with the GDPR's legal basis, as stated also in Article 1.3 of the Data Act, to ensure that the European data protection legal framework, especially the GDPR, remains applicable.
Circumventing the GDPR with a set of contradicting provisions would create commercial and legal uncertainty for entities that have adapted to its rules and strip them of the possibility to legally process personal data for profiling purposes. Additionally, due to a very broad definition of profiling that is still being interpreted by Data Protection Authorities and Courts, the magnitude of such prohibition is well underestimated and will outlaw longstanding and widely accepted processing activities in all industry sectors.
This can be also illustrated by the following example in the energy sector:
A connected product, such as an electricity meter, collects data through the use of its product. The data is then made available to the user through a third-party user-facing interface. Such an interface assists the user and facilitates his/her decision-making, for example by answering questions, such as “How much energy am I consuming per month?”. The possibility to answer this question relies on profiling operations related to the user’s activities and the use of the electricity meter. The prohibition of profiling would ultimately prevent device manufacturers from exploring lawful partnerships with
trusted third parties. The possibilities to enhance their products by offering customised, value-added services to consumers by handling personal and non-personal data would be significantly curtailed.
Current provisions of the Data Act fail to ensure a level playing field and are in contrast with the regulation’s aim to foster innovation and economic growth
The main issue lies in the differential treatment of the “data holder” who is allowed to carry out profiling activities, compared to the “data recipient”, who is prohibited from doing so under Article 6.2 (b) of the Data Act.
This discrepancy could favour vertically integrated enterprises that already hold large amounts of data, aggravating data concentration, and enabling such enterprises to leverage further their integration and their data, including for profiling purposes.
The Data Act aims to facilitate new and innovative uses of existing data. However, some businesses, which rely on the lawful processing of data for profiling , could be affected by Article 6.2 (b) of the Data Act. This could limit their ability to use data, create and train algorithms, which could have negative consequences not only for incubators of high-end digital skills but also SMEs that support the wider EU economy. Widespread data sharing allows SMEs to leverage customer data and provide efficient services and goods tailored to customer’s needs. Hence, the Data Act is crucial for SMEs’ willingness to access and process data and to allow new, innovative SMEs to emerge, grow and scale up. As highlighted above, such developments cannot be in line with EU’s competition goals and threaten the diversity of the digital economy.
Concluding remarks
Given the potential impact of the Data Act on the digital economy and data-driven innovation, we believe it is crucial for policymakers to support the text adopted by Parliament regarding article 6.2 (b). Specifically, we recommend that policymakers ensure that the Data Act aligns with the GDPR and that it enables, rather than undermines, new data-driven business models and supply chains. In order to deliver pro-competitive outcomes, it is important for service providers, including commercial partnerships acting as third parties, to be able to continue to rely on the relevant GDPR legal bases when processing personal data for the purposes of profiling. Only these prerequisites will ensure that the EU's regulatory framework promotes innovation, competition, and growth in the digital economy while maintaining user privacy and data protection. We therefore urge co-legislators to take these considerations during the trilogue negotiations on the Data Act.
Signatories
Press contact: Helen Mussard, IAB Europe - mussard@iabeurope.eu
Footnotes:
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - 15 March 2023: IAB Europe confirmed today that the APD has voluntarily suspended the six-month implementation period of IAB Europe’s action plan.
IAB Europe’s action plan was unexpectedly validated by the APD on 11 January 2023, with a six-month deadline for implementation (11 July 2023). The validation occurred while outstanding points are being examined by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), further to IAB Europe’s appeal against the APD decision of February 2022 before the Belgian Market Court.
As a result, IAB Europe lodged a second appeal before the Belgian Market Court against the APD decision to validate the action plan and requested interim measures. This formal challenge turned out to be indispensable to prevent the APD from preempting the CJEU’s response and avoid implementation of changes to the TCF that may need to be rolled back when the CJEU’s ruling is rendered.
IAB Europe is pleased to confirm that the APD has decided as a result of IAB Europe’s appeal to suspend voluntarily the implementation period of the action plan. The Belgian Market Court’s ruling on this second appeal is expected at the end of Q2 or beginning of Q3 2023. If it then upholds the APD’s validation decision of January 2023, despite the fact that this validation decision was taken while the appeal against the February 2022 is pending, the implementation period will resume at that time. This would postpone the deadline for implementation to Q4 2023 instead of 11 July 2023.
“The APD’s validation of the action plan was a welcome confirmation of the legality of the TCF, but its timing had raised legitimate concerns,” noted Townsend Feehan, IAB Europe CEO, “many organisations in the sector have shared their surprise that the APD imposed a deadline for implementation despite the referral of key questions to the European Court of Justice.”
“Given the impact of that referral on the foundations of the APD’s decision of last year, and by extension on the action plan, that deadline in practice could have robbed the referral of its utility,” continued Feehan. “The voluntary suspension by the APD of the implementation of the action plan will enable the release of sustainable improvements to the TCF pending the decision of the Belgian Market Court.”
As the deadline of 11 July 2023 ceases to apply, IAB Europe will move forward with various iterations to the TCF that are less directly impacted by the CJEU procedure, including some that could not be contemplated in the allocated time. More information regarding such iterations and their timing will be provided at a later stage, so as to enable TCF participants to prepare for them.
An updated FAQ regarding the TCF can be found on IAB Europe’s website, here.
Privacy, transparency and sustainability are now more of a challenge than brand safety
9th March 2023, Brussels: IAB Europe, the leading European-level industry association for the digital advertising and marketing ecosystem, today announced the findings of its 2023 Brand Safety Poll. 157 industry professionals from across the digital advertising value chain gave their opinions on how brand safety has been tackled over the past 12 months, providing insights on what action needs to happen in 2023.
The results highlight how seriously the industry is taking brand safety, and show how the ecosystem has changed in the last couple of years to place more emphasis on ensuring brand safe environments. 67% of respondents agree or strongly agree that brand safety was a key priority for the industry in 2022 with 53% of respondents further agreeing that the industry has done a good job of tackling brand safety over the past 12 months. This is up from 36% in 2019. 71% cited technology innovations as helping to solve brand safety concerns. This is up from 65% in 2019.
Helen Mussard, CMO, IAB Europe, commented: “The poll results highlight how seriously the digital advertising industry takes the safety of brand advertising investments and how improvements have been made in tackling this over the past couple of years. Furthermore, it is encouraging to see stakeholders recognise the importance that technology plays in tackling brand safety and suitability. We will continue to work with our members to highlight advances and best practices in this area, to enable brand safe experiences for both advertisers and consumers.”
Privacy and Sustainability Now More of a Challenge than Brand Safety
When asked to rank brand safety alongside other industry challenges, the majority of respondents (50%) said brand safety is the same in terms of challenges compared to last year. The challenges that have increased are privacy, transparency and sustainability. 57% of respondents said that privacy concerns are more of a challenge than last year, only 8% said it was less of a challenge. 44% of respondents said that transparency and sustainability are more of a challenge than last year compared to 39% that said brand safety.
The Rise of Brand Suitability
78% of respondents agree that there has been greater demand for brand suitability over the past 12 months More than 80% of respondents also cited that brand safety requires a bespoke approach to each client’s needs.
Brand Safety in 2023
Looking at what needs to happen in 2023 to further tackle brand safety and ensure trust for both advertisers and consumers, responses focused on creating new rules for news creators; Safeguarding customer privacy, More technical support; More verification and Content control.
The full results of the poll can be found on IAB Europe’s website here.
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - 10th February 2023: IAB Europe confirmed today that it has lodged a formal request for interim measures with the Belgian Market Court in the Transparency and Consent (TCF) case. This follows the decision by the Belgian Data Protection Authority (APD) to validate the action plan, submitted by IAB Europe on 1st April 2022 as one of the obligations under the Authority’s February 2022 decision.
This validation was unexpectedly announced on 11th January 2023, while outstanding points are being examined by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), further to a referral by the Belgian Market Court in September 2022. In that same judgement, the Belgian Market court held that the APD was in breach of its duty of care, which taints the February 2022 decision by the APD.
The six-month deadline to implement the plan is 11th July 2023, a date by which the CJEU will not have rendered its judgement. For this reason, while it moves forward with various iterations to the TCF that are less directly impacted by the CJEU procedure, IAB Europe is seeking interim measures to prevent the APD from enforcing the execution of changes to the TCF that may need to be rolled back when the CJEU’s ruling is rendered. This formal request turned out to be indispensable as the APD has not shown any clear willingness to engage in dialogue with IAB Europe following its decision, and seems unlikely to provide guidance between now and 11th July 2023.
"If the European Court finds that IAB Europe is not a (joint) data controller and/or the TC String is not personal data, the steps taken in the action plan that are premised on these findings - steps that will need to be taken by vendors, CMPs and thousands of publishers, in addition to IAB Europe - will have to be rolled back,” noted Townsend Feehan, IAB Europe CEO. "Companies will have wasted resources and made changes to their business practices, while consumers will be negatively impacted and misled through multiple adjustments."
“The APD’s approval of the action plan in its entirety is an important and welcome confirmation of the legality of the TCF. IAB Europe is moving ahead with positive changes to the TCF that are less impacted by the referral to the CJEU,” continued Feehan. “Pursuing interim measures will allow a serene completion of the remaining legal proceedings on the points that are significantly impacted."
An updated FAQ regarding the TCF can be found on IAB Europe’s website, here.
Europe’s Greatest Digital Minds to Gather at IAB Europe’s Flagship Conference: Interact 2023
On 23-24 May in Madrid, Spain, one of Europe’s most important and highly regarded digital advertising and marketing conferences will take place. The theme of the 16th edition of Interact 2023 is: Innovation, Sustainability & Growth.
Interact is an annual event hosted by IAB Europe, the leading European-level industry association for the digital advertising and marketing ecosystem. The event attracts industry experts and influential representatives from Europe’s leading advertising agencies, media owners, ad technology and brands. This year, in partnership with IAB Spain, the event will be held, once more, in Madrid.
The two-day conference will bring industry leading experts together to discuss and debate how we become privacy first, tackle sustainability and drive growth through innovation in the digital advertising industry.
“Each year, Interact brings our large and diverse network together to assess emerging trends, exchange best practice, and define the industry agenda for the ensuing 12-18 months”, “We are delighted to co-host the event with IAB Spain in Madrid again this year, welcoming visitors from across Europe and beyond to discuss and debate the hottest topics in digital advertising today”. Townsend Feehan, CEO, IAB Europe.
Participants are invited to join Interact 2023 with Early Bird tickets now available until 10th March.
MIXX Awards Europe & IAB Europe Research Awards Now Open
The winners of the prestigious MIXX Awards Europe and IAB Europe Research Awards will also be presented at the conference. The MIXX Awards recognise and celebrate the best digital advertising campaigns in Europe whilst The IAB Europe Research Awards identify and showcase the very best in digital research projects across Europe.
There are a wide range of categories available in each Programme including new Retail Media and Sustainability Campaign categories. Additionally, this year the MIXX Awards Europe will celebrate a new Outstanding Contribution Award. This award is for a team or an individual who has demonstrated an outstanding contribution to the digital advertising industry over the last 12 months.
Both competitions are now open and full details including how to enter can be found here for MIXX Awards Europe and here for Research Awards.
Tickets for Interact 2023 are available now. Visit www.iabeurope.eu/interact for full conference details.
Sustainability is one of the top three challenges for digital advertising businesses
51% of digital advertising businesses don’t currently measure the emissions produced by the delivery of digital ads
Brussels, Belgium, 2nd February 2023 - IAB Europe, the leading European-level industry association for the digital marketing and advertising ecosystem, today announced the results of its new ‘State of Readiness - Sustainability in Digital Advertising’ Report. The survey received 256 respondents from across 29 European markets and shares key insights on how far the digital advertising industry is progressing on its journey towards the delivery of sustainable digital advertising.
Sustainability is now a key focus for the digital advertising industry. Last year, it was estimated that a typical ad campaign emitted around 5.4 tons of CO2, with a programmatic ad impression producing around one gram of CO2 emissions. When the number of ad impressions transacted on a regular basis multiplies over time, it is easy to see how this has become an imperative problem for the industry.
In order to gain insight into how the digital advertising industry is tackling sustainability and what measures individual companies have in place, IAB Europe’s Sustainability Standards Committee developed the State of Readiness – Sustainability in Digital Advertising survey. The survey attracted 256 respondents from across the digital advertising ecosystem with the vast majority coming from Ad Tech, Agency, and Publisher businesses, as well as Advertisers.
Key Findings:
Commenting on the findings, Laura Wade, Head of Sustainability at EssenceMediacomX said “With 55% of respondents ‘having started’ or ‘made significant progress’ with their own carbon reduction efforts, I am hopeful this indicates that 2023 is the tipping point for sustainable digital practices to become embedded into the mainstream. However, the report also highlights that we need to focus on education and collaboration to turn this into a reality. I believe we need to act quickly and commit fully, to realise the commercial opportunity that decarbonisation and sustainable innovation unlocks.”
IAB Europe’s Sustainability Standards Committee which comprises over 40 European and Global organisations is using the survey findings to help shape its 2023 work plan.
Commenting on the core focus, Andrew Hayward-Wright, IAB Europe’s Programmatic & Sustainability Advisor said, “It is clear from the results that a combination of measurement, standards, and solutions will be key to driving sustainability in digital advertising forward. This year, IAB Europe will focus on delivering standardisation of reporting whilst supporting the industry as it navigates the complex European regulatory environment of sustainability."
Adding to the work being conducted by the Committee, Steffen Johann Hubert, Associate Director & Lead Sustainability, Seven.One Media said, “Sustainability is indispensable for today's and all future generations. Therefore we are pleased to be able to support the development of IAB Europe’s Sustainability Standards Committee. The challenge of reconciling the diverse sustainability requirements of regulations, investors, competitors, advertisers, employees, and consumers is enormous and will demand a lot from all market participants. Addressing a common understanding of the challenge via IAB Europe can form an important basis.”
Alongside the work of the Sustainability Standards Committee, IAB Europe has also set up a dedicated Working Group for European National IABs who are currently working together on a joint action plan and charter to show the industry’s commitment to reducing carbon emissions, which will be released in the next few weeks.
The full report with accompanying graphs can be downloaded from IAB Europe’s website HERE.
Notes to Editors
About IAB Europe
IAB Europe is the European-level association for the digital marketing and advertising ecosystem. Through its membership of media, technology and marketing companies and national IABs, its mission is to lead political representation and promote industry collaboration to deliver frameworks, standards and industry programmes that enable business to thrive in the European market.
About IAB Europe’s Sustainability Standards Committee
IAB Europe’s Sustainability Standards Committee was formed in October 2022 with the primary focus of bringing the industry together to create standards for the delivery of digital advertising and to help all industry participants to reduce the amount of energy consumed and carbon emissions produced through the use of digital media.
IAB Europe this week signed an industry joint letter addressed to the Members of the Committee of Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs of the European Parliament (LIBE) on the Data Act proposal and its interplay with the GDPR. The letter initiated by FEDMA was co-signed by IAB Europe, Alliance Digitale (IAB France), IAB Poland, IAB Spain and IAB Sweden and other associations representing companies from various sectors of the business community.
As the LIBE Committee moves forward to finalise its opinion on the proposed Data Act, some provisions in the European Commission’s proposal and some amendments in the LIBE Committee’s draft opinion could have the unintended consequences of overriding the GDPR risk-based approach that would ultimately undermine the adduce goal of the Data Act of facilitating innovative uses of existing data.
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BRUSSELS, 25 January 2023 – Today, a coalition of associations representing companies from various sectors of the business community issued a joint statement on the Data Act and its interplay with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Chapter II of the proposal.
The statement highlights that some provisions in the European Commission’s proposal and some amendments in the LIBE Committee’s draft opinion would restrict certain data processing activities even when carried out in a GDPR-compliant way.
These provisions do not only risk curbing the benefits for innovation, but they are at odds with the Data Act’s objective to empower users who should be free to decide the purposes for sharing their personal data insofar as any data sharing and processing is compliant with the GDPR.
With the GDPR, the EU has set up a modern futureproof data protection framework. Yet, the Data Act could undermine these achievements and the credibility of the GDPR.
Specifically, the coalition calls on EU legislators to:
The full coalition includes:
ACT - The App Association
AIG -IAB France - Alliance Digitale
CCIA - Computer & Communications Industry Association
EUCOPE - European Confederation of Pharmaceutical Entrepreneurs
FEDMA – Federation of European Data and Marketing
IAB Europe - Interactive Advertising Bureau Europe
IAB Poland - Interactive Advertising Bureau Poland
IAB Spain - Interactive Advertising Bureau Spain
IAB Sweden- Interactive Advertising Bureau Sweden
ITI - Information Technology Industry Council
You can read the full letter here.
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - 12th January 2023: The Belgian Data Protection Authority (APD) has informed IAB Europe that it has validated all points of the action plan submitted by IAB Europe in April 2022 in compliance with the February APD decision. The validation of the action plan confirms the legal functionality of the Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF) within the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Each step described in the action plan is the result of a careful assessment of which measures are best suited to meet the APD’s interpretation of the GDPR (as laid out by the APD in February 2022) and deliver extended compliance functionality to the TCF. It reflects a collaborative effort and in-depth discussions amongst IAB Europe member companies and associations, that convene in the TCF working groups to iterate the Framework to meet the expectations of the APD.
This said, the measures proposed in the action plan stem directly from the assumption that (i) the TC String (a digital signal containing user preferences) should be considered personal data and that (ii) IAB Europe acts as a (joint) controller for the dissemination of TC Strings and other data processing done by TCF participants. Both of these assumptions have been referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) by the Belgian Market Court for a preliminary ruling, and such referral was explicitly asked by the APD itself in the course of the proceedings.
While IAB Europe is pleased that the action plan was favourably received by the APD, it has grave reservations about the APD pre-empting responses from the CJEU which may, as a result, initiate changes to the TCF that might need to be rolled back at the end of the appeal process. Pending the proceedings before the Belgian Market Court and the CJEU, IAB Europe will take any initiative to ensure that any future developments of the TCF are sustainable and aligned with EU-level interpretations of the GDPR.
“The validation of IAB Europe’s action plan confirms the legality of the TCF as a standard that can help digital publishers and their partners comply with certain provisions of the GDPR and ePrivacy Directive”, comments Townsend Feehan, CEO of IAB Europe. “However, it is important to bear in mind that implementation of the action plan - which IAB Europe is now being required to effect over a period of six months - would entail operating changes for TCF participants that may ultimately be found inadequate by the European Court.”
An FAQ regarding the TCF can be found on IAB Europe’s website, here.
More than 90% of Advertisers are Partnering with Retailers to Reach Consumers
New study from IAB Europe and Microsoft Shows that Retail Media is Now an Established Part of Media Plans
13th December 2022, Brussels, Belgium, IAB Europe, the leading European-level industry association for the digital and marketing ecosystem has today announced the results of a new industry survey on retail media advertising. Currently, retail media is one of the fastest growing sectors within the digital advertising industry and IAB Europe forecasts retail media ad spend will reach €25bn in Europe by 2026.
To further understand the retail media opportunity, IAB Europe and its member company Xandr, now part of Microsoft, surveyed over 800 buy-side stakeholders on their current use and experience leveraging retail media. The study also looked at their strategic focus for the sector over the next 12 months.
Retail Media is No Longer an Emerging Channel
The results demonstrate that retail media is a key part of advertising strategies with 92% of advertisers and 74% of agencies already partnering with retailers to reach consumers. Of the small amount that are not engaged with retail media as an advertising channel, 88% of advertisers and 77% of agencies plan to do so in the next 12 months.
First-Party Data Strategy is a Key Opportunity
Data, in particular first-party data, is a key opportunity within retail media, largely driven by the deprecation of the third-party cookie. More than a third of buyers cite this as one of the key drivers of retail media adoption and the majority are already working on their first-party data strategy. Whilst 91% of buyers have a first-party data strategy in place, 49% are still working towards scaling their first-party data strategy.
Scale and Ad Tech Key Challenges to Overcome
As with any new advertising channel, retail media is not without its challenges. A third of respondents cited ‘scale’ and ‘integration with other advertising technologies’ as their top two barriers. Buyers want to be able to purchase their advertising via one or a few technology partners and the lack of retail media ad tech integration remains a stumbling block.
Daniel Knapp, Chief Economist, IAB Europe comments on the factors driving the growth of retail media in Europe: “Retail Media in Europe is already an €8bn market and growing double-digit despite economic headwinds. The pandemic-induced rise of e-commerce, paired with retailers’ first party data in a world of signal loss, and the ability to combine ad exposure and conversion into a single platform are key market drivers. We see further potential for off-site retail media to integrate retailer’s role more widely in the upper marketing funnel.”
“Our research with IAB Europe shows how third-party cookie deprecation has accelerated the adoption of this channel since it offers the benefits of first-party data with closed loop attribution. However, there are still pain points related to scale and technology that are creating challenges for retailers and brands,” comments Paul Longo, Global Head of Retail Media Sales, Microsoft Advertising. “We are passionate about working with both retailers and brands to deliver solutions that drive meaningful business outcomes; solutions that offer retailers the tools and platforms they need to drive scale, efficiency, and performance for brands, and that enable brands to capitalise on this opportunity to reach high value audiences.”
Laura Badea, Commerce Partner, Wavemaker, commented: “The new study from IAB Europe and Microsoft confirms what we have witnessed in the last 12-18 months – the shaping of retail media as a key element in the strategic channel mix. Retail media is no longer seen as bottom-funnel activation; the development of site-serve capabilities and tech solutions which allow advertisers to deploy audience segments built with retailers’ 1st party data across the entire web has enabled the conversation to shift from brand-led to commercial-led outcomes.
The work of the new retail media working group - launched by IAB Europe in October - is therefore critical in helping to define a unified vision and standards to underpin the fast growth that moves at different levels of speed across sectors and markets.”
Amir Rasekh, Director of Nectar360, said: “The results from the IAB Europe and Microsoft study show that retail media presents a real opportunity for brands to reach consumers effectively. We have been building our data-driven Retail Media capability across Sainsbury’s and Argos for many years, with the aim of driving enhanced levels of personalisation for our customers and strong returns for clients.”
IAB Europe launched its Retail Media Working Group to enable collaborative conversations, provide education and insights, and create recommendations to shape and define this exciting advertising space. The new working group is open to all IAB Europe members and will provide education on the retail media landscape, the benefits, and use cases as well as insights and standards to enable the market to continue to grow.
Download the IAB Europe and Microsoft Industry Insider to access the survey insights and perspectives from the industry.
IAB Europe has been working with IAB Canada and IAB Techlab to build the Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF) for the Canadian ecosystem. The TCF is designed to unify data privacy laws across Europe, and is the only consent solution built for the industry by the industry. The newly launched TCF Canada will act as a roadmap for publishers, technology vendors, agencies, advertisers and digital marketers to ensure they are working under appropriate legal purposes for processing personal data in the Canadian market. Please refer to the below press release from IAB Canada for more information:
November 28, 2022, Toronto, Ontario Canada: IAB Canada, the national trade association and thought leader for the Canadian interactive marketing and advertising industry, in partnership with IAB Tech Lab and IAB Europe, today announced the launch of the Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF) for Canada.
TCF Canada acts as a roadmap for publishers, technology vendors, agencies, advertisers and digital marketers to ensure they are working under appropriate legal purposes for processing personal data in the Canadian market.
“As the industry moves towards privacy-first solutions to addressing audiences online, the launch of TCF Canada represents a major milestone for ad tech. Standardized definitions and reliable frameworks based on signals, help drive solid industry codes of conduct,” said Sonia Carreno, President, IAB Canada, “global collaboration with our members and peers over the past two years has resulted in a pressure-tested, scalable framework that meets the needs of the ecosystem today with an eye towards the future-state of advertising in a privacy-first world.”
The TCF provides technical specifications and policy documents to help players in the digital marketing and advertising ecosystem clearly and consistently communicate with end users about how their data is being used, while also providing an opportunity for users to object and manage their consent preferences. It is a framework for publishers, technology vendors, agencies and advertisers to clearly and consistently communicate with end users about how their data is being used, while also providing an opportunity for users to withdraw their consent.
TCF Canada is another critical piece in industry’s effort to increase consumer transparency and choice, management by digital properties of consent and compliance, and industry collaboration that centres on standardization.
“Two years ago, IAB Tech Lab committed to delivering a platform for vendors and Consent Management Platforms (CMPs) to access cross-jurisdictional compliance signals in a standardized way. We delivered on that promise with the launch of the Global Privacy Platform (GPP) last month.” said Anthony Katsur, CEO IAB Tech Lab, “IAB Canada’s TCF string presents the first of many signals that will address the patchwork of privacy obligations across international markets.”
All vendors and CMPs can now register to participate in TCF Canada at the updated registration site here. Registration for TCF Canada includes the opportunity to register for both TCF Canada and TCF V 2.0 (for GDPR compliance) Existing participants in IABs TCF V 2.0 (for GDPR compliance) can update their details to include TCF Canada registration.
The registration process for vendors requires adherence to the TCF Policy and Terms & Conditions.
Publishers can use the Global Vendor List (GVL) to view the vendors who are participating in the TCF Canada, and to determine which vendors to include in the transparency and consent user interface they make available on their website.
Appropriate time will be given for the Canadian market to adopt the framework providing publisher websites and Consent Management Platforms (CMPs) with an appropriate timeframe in which to adopt TCF Canada. While also providing the vendors they work with sufficient time to develop and implement the code needed to adhere to the protocol of TCF Canada. In Q1 of 2023 the compliance program will be put into operation and CMPs will be required to undergo and pass a CMP validation to ensure they are operating under the policies of the framework. Those who do not comply will be removed from the program.
To find out more about TCF Canada or to register please visit our website and if you have any questions please reach out to tcfcanada@iabcanada.com.
Unifying Retail Media Leaders Across Europe
To Enable Collaboration, Education, Insights and Standards
13th October 2022, Brussels, Belgium, IAB Europe, the leading European-level industry association for the digital and marketing ecosystem has today announced the creation of a new Retail Media Working Group. The group will bring together stakeholders from across this emerging new channel in order to enable collaborative conversations, provide education and insights and create recommendations to shape and define this new, exciting advertising space.
Retail Media in Europe is accelerating each year and is a key part of the media plan. In 2021 the market was worth €7.9 billion and this is expected to reach €25bn by 2026, representing a significant investment opportunity. Further, a recent buy-side survey on the Retail Media Opportunity in Europe shows that retail media is already a key part of the media plan; 92% of advertisers and 74% of agencies surveyed state that they are currently partnering with retailers to reach consumers[1].
The new working group is open to all IAB Europe members and will provide education on the retail media landscape, the benefits, use cases as well as insights and standards to enable the market to continue to grow. IAB Europe is also pleased to welcome some new retail brands to its membership to take part in the working group.
Marie-Clare Puffett, Senior Manager, Marketing & Industry Programmes at IAB Europe commented: “Retail Media is a key area of growth within the digital advertising sector. IAB Europe has spent the past few months discussing the landscape in Europe with key retailers and players and looks forward to kicking off the Working Group to enable cross-industry collaboration.”
For members wishing to join the working group please sign up here. Organisations wanting to be involved in the committee who are not yet members of IAB Europe, please contact communication@iabeurope.eu
Notes
[1] The full results of the Retail Media Opportunity in Europe survey will be available in November. IAB Europe and Xandr are hosting a webinar on the 27th October to present a first look at the results and host a panel discussion with leaders in this field, find out more and sign up here.
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - 7th October 2022: The Belgian Data Protection Authority (APD) has informed IAB Europe that it intends to pursue its examination of the action plan submitted in April with a view to its possible validation. This is despite the Belgian Market Court’s interim ruling of September 7th 2022 that declared illegal the APD decision (which served as a basis for the action plan) because of the APD’s lack of due care. In addition, the Market Court has referred fundamental questions on the substance of the matter - and relevant to the action plan - to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
IAB Europe welcomes every opportunity to enter into a dialogue with the APD, and other supervisory authorities concerned, on its action plan and how best to deliver extended functionality to the Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF). The action plan is the result of a careful assessment of what measures would best meet the APD's interpretation of the GDPR, and the resulting obligations that it creates for IAB Europe. It reflects the willingness of the sector to find solutions and to cooperate on tools that are meaningful for data subjects, while practical and scalable for all market players involved.
However, while the action plan is a basis for discussion to continue the work on improving the TCF, IAB Europe firmly believes that the APD decision cannot be enforced.
Firstly, the Market Court found that the APD’s decision was illegal due to irregularities at the stage of the APD’s investigation. Secondly, the measures proposed in the action plan stem directly from the assumptions that (i) the TC String (a digital signal containing user preferences) should be considered personal data and that (ii) IAB Europe acts as a (joint) controller for the dissemination of TC Strings and other data processing done by TCF participants. The Belgian Market Court has decided to seek guidance from the CJEU on both of these points, based on questions raised by the APD itself during the course of the proceedings.
IAB Europe reserves the right to engage in any form of available legal action should the APD attempt to enforce its illegal decision and preempt responses from the CJEU on the central issues that have been referred to it
“The questions that have been referred to the CJEU are foundational as they call into question whether an enforcement action should have been brought against IAB Europe in the first place,” comments Townsend Feehan, CEO of IAB Europe. “Pending the answers from the CJEU on the matter, we look forward to soliciting guidance from Data Protection Authorities to deliver extended functionality to the TCF. ”
An updated FAQ on the case may be consulted on IAB Europe’s website here.
Over 1000 Industry Professionals Share Their Investment Drivers, Barriers, and Operational Models
Brussels, 29th September 2022, IAB Europe, the leading European-level industry association for the digital marketing and advertising ecosystem, today announced the results of its annual ‘Attitudes to Programmatic Advertising Study’.
Now in its eighth year, this study has become an industry benchmark and helpful insight to show how programmatic advertising attitudes, adoption and strategies are evolving. This year the study tripled in responses with over 1000 industry professionals taking part across 29 markets in Europe. The respondents represent four stakeholder groups - advertisers, agencies, publishers, and ad tech vendors - to ascertain the views and directions from the entire ecosystem. More than half of the respondents across advertisers, agencies and publishers manage annual advertising budgets of €1m or above.
Nick Welch, Head of EMEA Programmatic Sales at IAS and Programmatic Trading Committee Chair at IAB Europe said: The "Attitudes to Programmatic Advertising 2022 Study' serves as an important annual benchmark towards programmatic strategies in digital advertising. The widening of the research shows its focus across various players in the industry from multiple markets. We're grateful for all the respondents to the study and helping set the agenda for the coming 12 months. Even amongst the backdrop of tightening budgets and further media scrutiny, it's encouraging to see that investment in programmatic is likely to increase. Alongside this, we're witnessing tremendous appetite across growing environments such as CTV and audio. However, marketers must play a crucial role in these areas, ensuring that balance is found between optimising media spend, data transparency and delivering a targeted and enjoyable consumer experience."
Positive Outlook Driven by Connected TV
All stakeholders (74% of advertisers, 80% of agencies and 68% of publishers) are expecting their programmatic investment to increase over the next 12 months. There seems to be consensus around connected TV as a key growth area; more than 50% of all stakeholder groups cite this as a key to programmatic growth over the next 12 months. Voice, almost non-existent as key to growth in previous years - makes a strong appearance this year with 32% of advertisers and 28% of agencies citing this as a key growth area.
Commenting further on the investment trends, James Collins, SVP, Media Network, Rakuten Advertising said “The annual Attitudes to Programmatic Report from IAB Europe is an important indicator for the industry on the opportunities and challenges for programmatic advertising. It’s positive to see that CTV remains the largest growth area for programmatic, with key learnings in this report hopefully the industry can take a step closer to capitalising on this opportunity.”
Media Cost Efficiencies Are Key to Investment
More than a quarter of advertisers and agencies ranked cost efficiencies as the most important driver for programmatic investment. This is closely followed by granularity of controls and transparency of reporting. Advertisers also cite costs as a barrier to investment; 22% ranked it as the number 1 barrier. Quality of media is also a concern (38% ranked this as the first or second barrier to investment). For agencies, hiring and training staff is a key barrier to programmatic investment.
Advertisers Shift from In-Housing to a More Dynamic Approach
In 2021 50% of advertisers said they had an in-house model. This seems to have dropped significantly to 16% in 2022. There seems to be a more hybrid or dynamic approach with advertisers tapping into a range of methods such as outsourcing to a DSP, independent trading desk etc. This is perhaps being driven by the struggle to source the correct talent, paving the way for consultancies to play a more vital role in the process.
Interaction and Quality Metrics Are Key to Measurement
When asked which metrics are important to evaluate display campaigns that are traded programmatically, the majority of advertisers cited social interactions as the most important, as opposed to sales which was the top metric in 2021 (59% vs 37%). For agencies and publishers, it is in delivering quality metrics (60% and 53% respectively) that is most important.
Shift in the Type of Data Used for Audience Targeting
The study shows a decrease in the use of first-party data alongside an increase in second-party data. Whilst 2021 showed first-party data was the priority for advertisers, agencies, and publishers in 2021, this is now ranked third behind second-party data (the most popular priority averaging 57% with agencies leading at 60%) and third-party at 49%.
The report, written by industry experts from IAB Europe’s membership, and forms part of a comprehensive programme of pan-European educational and guidance outputs published by the IAB Europe Programmatic Trading Committee. The full report with accompanying graphs can be downloaded from IAB Europe’s website HERE.
About IAB Europe
IAB Europe is the European-level association for the digital marketing and advertising ecosystem. Through its membership of media, technology and marketing companies and national IABs, its mission is to lead political representation and promote industry collaboration to deliver frameworks, standards and industry programmes that enable business to thrive in the European market.
Unifying Industry Leaders from Across Europe
To Establish a Set of Practical Standards to Help the Digital Advertising Industry with its Decarbonisation Journey.
21st September 2022, Brussels, Belgium: IAB Europe, the leading European-level industry association for the digital and marketing ecosystem has today announced the creation of its new Sustainability Standards Committee. The committee will bring the industry together to create new standards for the delivery of digital advertising. These standards will help and direct all industry participants to reduce the amount of energy consumed and carbon emissions produced through their use of digital media.
Today, it’s estimated that the Internet’s overall environmental impact is around 2%-4% of global carbon emissions, with a typical ad campaign emitting around 5.4 tons of CO2. As the industry and wider society become increasingly aware of the climate crisis, and the impact that the internet and digital ads have on the environment, it has now become more important than ever to take responsibility and action.
To tackle these numbers, the committee will produce a ‘Green Media standard’ which is composed of practical and measurable steps that participants can implement to decarbonise their digital media.
The new committee is open to all IAB Europe members, including corporate companies and National IABs from across Europe. It will be led by Andrew Hayward-Wright, Programmatic & Sustainability Advisor for IAB Europe.
IAB Europe’s Programmatic & Sustainability advisor, Andrew Hayward-Wright comments “Over the course of 2022 there has been a lot of activity and conversations around the Climate Crisis, the sustainability of digital advertising and its contribution to the global carbon footprint. The time to act is now, IAB Europe and its members are perfectly positioned to help create independent governance and standards around the delivery of digital advertising and its sustainability. In doing so we hope to help the digital advertising industry be accountable for its own emissions and one of the first industries as a whole to reach net zero.”
IAB Europe looks forward to leading this collaborative effort with the industry to create meaningful change and help guide the direction of the industry's sustainability for years to come.
For members wishing to join the committee please sign up here. Organisations wanting to be involved in the committee who are not yet members of IAB Europe, please contact communication@iabeurope.eu
21st September 2022, Brussels, Belgium: IAB Europe, the leading European-level industry association for the digital and marketing ecosystem has today announced the election of Nicolas Rieul as the new Chair of the Board. Nicolas was elected by the IAB Europe Board of Directors at IAB Europe's quarterly board meeting on 20th September. He was already a director and a member of its executive committee as a representative of Alliance Digitale (IAB France-LMMA). Nicolas succeeds Wlodzimierz Schmidt, Managing Director of IAB Poland.
Speaking after the vote, Nicolas said “I am very honoured and grateful for the trust placed in me today by all the members of the IAB Europe Board of Directors. I would like to thank them warmly and also salute the commitment of my predecessor Wlodzimierz Schmidt who, with the support of the IAB Europe staff and Director General Townsend Feehan, has done a remarkable job. I am fully aware of the task ahead of us and would like to assure all members of my desire to represent our entire industry throughout Europe proudly.
Alliance Digitale (IAB France-LMMA) is happy to see its president take this position and believes this is a key moment in further strengthening the collaboration of Alliance Digitale (IAB France-LMMA) with its counterparts from IAB Europe and the national IABs on all major issues that our industry is going through which require a collective and homogeneous response.
Authored by Industry Leaders from Across Europe
Provides insights and guidance for buyers starting to explore eCommerce and retail media opportunities
7th September, Brussels, Belgium: IAB Europe, the leading European-level industry association for the digital and marketing ecosystem has today released its ‘Guide to Ecommerce for Digital Advertising’ to provide an introduction to eCommerce and retail media advertising in Europe. The Guide, which is aimed at buyers that are starting to explore opportunities in this category, provides insights into how e-commerce works, the available ad formats, and considerations and best practices for the digital advertising ecosystem.
As people increasingly use online channels to shop for goods and services, the relative importance of eCommerce and retail media in the broader marketing mix is only going to grow and IAB Europe estimates that it could reach €24.8bn by 2026.
This introductory Guide highlights some of the ad formats, buying methods, measurement options and key considerations and best practices for buyers using eCommerce retail media advertising. As the category develops, IAB Europe will continue to support buyers and the whole ecosystem in their retail media journeys. Working across the industry, we will continue to provide advice, recommendations, and market intelligence as appropriate.
IAB Europe’s Chief Economist, Daniel Knapp comments “Since the pandemic, Europe has seen an explosion of retail media networks. Fuelled by changing consumer shopping habits, 1st party data and closed-loop attribution, ad spend is following quickly. Retail media ad spend in Europe was €7.9bn in 2021. Although that includes Amazon with an estimated 75% share, endemic retailers and commerce platforms are growing market share. As the looming recession puts a dent in ad spend growth, we expect retail media to outperform the market.”
Commenting on the value of ecommerce and retail media advertising for brands, David Sequeira, Managing Director EMEA, Skai said “We are at a time where advertising budgets require more accountability, consumers demand more personalized experiences and data deprecation makes open web advertising more challenging. Brands are rethinking their marketing strategies in favour of channels where consumers are open to advertising, not reliant on cookies and can easily be tied back to the bottom line. Retail media, with its rich first-party data, ticks all of the boxes.”
Commenting on the importance of good creative for Ecommerce advertising, Tom Ellis, Director of Ad Creative, Yahoo! Said ‘"Formats like shoppable ads have brought ecommerce opportunities right up to the top of the marketing funnel. They don't have to be complex and they are not complex to produce in order to deliver great results and conversions for clients. Having a clear call to action, price and product image is key, combined with partners that can place the ads in the right environments and context to inspire action in consumers in the moment."
It’s been a collaborative effort to produce this European-level industry guide for Ecommerce Advertising, with contributors including Criteo, PubMatic, Perpetua, Skai, Xandr and Yahoo!
The Guide to Ecommerce for Digital Advertising can be downloaded from IAB Europe’s website here.
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - 7th September 2022: IAB Europe acknowledges the interim ruling handed down today by the Belgian Market Court (part of the Brussels Court of Appeal) in connection with IAB Europe’s appeal of the February 2022 decision by the Belgian Data Protection Authority (APD) on IAB Europe and the Transparency & Consent Framework (TCF). In its interim ruling, the Market Court has decided to refer preliminary questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on how the concept of data controllership in the GDPR as it pertains in this case, is to be interpreted and on whether a TC String (a digital signal containing user preferences) can be considered as “personal data” under the GDPR. The referral to the CJEU means that a final judgement by the Market Court is unlikely until 2023 or even 2024.
IAB Europe welcomes the Market Court’s decision to seek guidance from the CJEU. “The interpretation of the notions of personal data and controllership embraced by the APD is unnecessarily broad from a consumer protection point of view and has significant negative implications for the development of open standards and the Codes of Conduct foreseen in the GDPR,” noted Townsend Feehan, IAB Europe’s CEO. “It would place an unacceptable financial burden on host organisations, discouraging the development of these important compliance tools”.
An updated FAQ on the case may be consulted on IAB Europe's website here.
98% of buyers agree that buying inventory in a quality media environment is important
92% prefer to spend their advertising budget with suppliers that adhere to industry standards
Brussels, Belgium, 14 July 2022 – IAB Europe, the leading European-level industry association for the digital advertising and marketing ecosystem, today released results of a new survey, which surveyed buyers to identify their digital advertising quality concerns and understand their attitudes towards industry standards, and different types of inventory.
The survey, developed by national IABs within IAB Europe’s European Quality Working Group, found that the role of industry standards, such as the IAB UK Gold Standard, Digital Ad Trust in France or IAB Poland QUALID, is paramount. 84% of all buyers said that they are willing to pay a premium price for higher quality, trusted inventory whilst 92% said that they prefer to spend their advertising budget with suppliers that adhere to industry standards. Additionally 73% said that they check if a media owner or supplier adheres to industry standards before spending budget with them. Only 19% of buyers that responded to the survey said that they don’t mind about industry standards at all.This decreased to 6% if the buyer was in a market with a national quality standard.
A vast amount of work is being undertaken in Europe to improve and uphold quality standards in digital advertising as outlined in the IAB Europe Quality Initiatives Navigator. In 2017, IAB UK created the Gold Standard in order to tackle quality concerns. Fast forward to today, there are now seven markets with a national quality standard or scheme in place. The results suggest these standards help raise awareness of quality concerns, such as brand safety and ad fraud; buyers in markets with a national standard vs. those in a market without were more likely to be aware of those concerns.
In terms of the key quality concerns, the survey found that when buying digital advertising, viewability and brand safety are considered the biggest issues for advertisers and agencies. 89% said they were concerned or very concerned about viewability and 79% said the same about brand safety.
The survey also asked buyers about the areas most in need of the development of standards and CTV came out on top closely followed by Audio and DOOH.
Marie-Clare Puffett, Senior Manager, Marketing & Industry Programmes at IAB Europe said: “The results of the study we are releasing today, provides reassurance, for the national IABs that already have a quality standard in place and those that are in the process of creating one, that buyers value those standards when spending their budgets within our ecosystem. The work of our European Quality Working Group is important to ensure harmonisation so that International businesses don’t have to adhere to a multitude of different standards across Europe.”
Tim Elkington, Chief Digital Officer, IAB UK commented: “The fact that 92% of advertisers and agencies prefer to spend their budget with suppliers that adhere to industry standards underscores the vital importance of creating shared standards at a national level - such as the Gold Standard in the UK - as well as building consistency of standards between different markets. Increasing collaboration between IABs can play an essential role here, making it easier for our members to navigate and adhere to digital advertising best practice at both a national and international level.”
Wlodek Schmidt, President, IAB Poland and Chair, IAB Europe Board of Directors commented on the importance of a national quality standard in a fast growing market: “In 2021, digital advertising accounted for half of all ad spend in Poland, meaning Poland was on par with the more mature markets in terms of digital ad spend. With this in mind, we as an industry need to focus our efforts to combat cybercrime and advertising fraud more than ever. Following the example of the most advanced markets in Western Europe and the USA, IAB Poland established the QUALID Programme which aims to develop, collect, and promote positive and effective solutions that will contribute to improving the quality of digital advertising in Poland.”
Access the results here
Notes:
Markets with a national quality scheme - UK, France, Poland, Germany, Sweden, Ireland, Italy
Markets without a scheme - Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Macedonia, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine
For more information, please contact:
Lauren Wakefield, IAB Europe (wakefield@iabeurope.eu / +44 7828 514 193)
Marie-Clare Puffett, IAB Europe (puffett@iabeurope.eu / +44 7973 836 917)
Report details all factors contributing to 30.5% annual growth
All 28 markets recorded double-digit growth
Brussels, Belgium, 28 June 2022 – IAB Europe, the leading European-level industry association for the digital advertising and marketing ecosystem, today released its full 2021 AdEx Benchmark Report following the release of the study highlights in May. The report is the definitive guide to advertising expenditure in Europe covering 28 markets. It details the formats and channels that contributed to digital advertising’s annual growth of 30.5 percent in 2021, culminating in a total market value of €92bn.
Commenting on the positive market growth in 2021, Townsend Feehan, CEO, IAB Europe said:
“The past two years have been challenging for many and it is encouraging to be able to report such positive growth for our industry. This is a testament to the people, products and services that help steer and grow the digital advertising industry, even in the most exceptional circumstances.”
Every market in the study experienced double-digit growth
All 28 markets covered in the study have recorded double-digit growth. Seven markets grew above the average growth rate of 30.5%, with a mix of countries from Western and Central & Eastern Europe.
The market recorded the highest growth rate since 2008
IAB Europe forecast a growth rate of 28.6% for 2021. The markets surged and exceeded expectations to achieve a growth rate of 30.5%, which is the highest growth recorded in the study since 2008. This equated to a total of €21.5bn added to the digital advertising market in 2021.
Still headroom for growth
When looking at digital ad spend per head, some key markets still lag behind the European average of €115; Spain for example at €92 and Poland at €38.
Video continued strong growth in 2021
Video was a key driver of growth both in and out of social spend. It grew by 46.2% and now accounts for 41% of all display ad spend. Video also now exceeds half of total display spend in three markets; Ukraine, UK and Italy.
Digital Audio recorded the strongest percentage growth
In 2021 digital audio grew by 50.7%, higher than all other formats. The audio market continues to grow rapidly, from a low base, reaching €700m in 2021, or 3% of display spend.
Programmatic now commands 57% of display ad spend
Programmatic, excluding social, accounts for more than half of display ad spend driven by a move to private market places and adoption in CEE markets.
Dr. Daniel Knapp, Chief Economist, IAB Europe, who compiled and presented the study commented:
“All parts of digital advertising benefited from the 2021 bonanza, but most notably those formats and approaches that enable small and medium sized businesses, e-commerce related advertising, video-based storytelling and formats that provide access to new consumer behaviour at scale, such as audio and gaming.
Although market growth in 2021 was tightly clustered in the mid-20ies for most countries, European digital ad markets are heterogeneous with a wide range of ad spend per capita allocations even in markets of similar economic power. This signals significant headroom for growth remains available.”
View and Download the Full Report Here
Notes
AdEx Benchmark is the definitive guide to advertising expenditure in Europe.
The data has been compiled by IAB Europe based on information provided by the national IAB offices around Europe. The report includes market size and value information for 2021 for the following markets: Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, UK and the Ukraine. The data represents the calendar year 2019 January- December. This is the sixteenth AdEx Benchmark study which began in the calendar year 2006. Display includes PC-based and mobile banners, rich media and video formats.
The report provides a comprehensive perspective of digital advertising spend across Europe which is essential in benchmarking market development trends, the increasingly pan-regional nature of digital advertising investments and the role of Europe’s digital economy in a global context, attracting global start-up funding and European policy formulation.
For more information, please contact:
Lauren Wakefield, IAB Europe (wakefield@iabeurope.eu / +44 7828 514 193)
Marie-Clare Puffett, IAB Europe (puffett@iabeurope.eu / +44 7973 836 917)
16 June 2022, Brussels, Belgium - IAB Europe today declared its formal endorsement of the strengthened Code of Practice (CoP) on Disinformation, as part of its participation in the launch event held in Brussels.
The CoP was revised to take account of the European Commission’s Guidance on Strengthening the Code of Practice on Disinformation released in May 2021. IAB Europe was an active participant in the revision process, alongside other stakeholders including corporate players from online advertising and platforms sectors as well as fact-checking organisations, civil society representatives and other parties providing solutions to fight disinformation.
IAB Europe was one of the signatories of the original CoP in 2018, widely recognised as the first-ever policy tool addressing the challenge of disinformation. In its role as a trade association signatory, IAB Europe has been evangelising the Code within the industry and encouraging continued collaboration on it across the digital ecosystem.
“Online disinformation is a scourge and a major challenge to contemporary society,” said Townsend Feehan, IAB Europe CEO. “The drafting process of the strengthened Code has brought together a diverse group of stakeholders, including direct participation of advertising industry players and their experts. Their involvement allowed for in-depth discussions and commitments to address brand safety aspects that are particularly important for ensuring brands’ confidence in a safe and trusted digital ecosystem. We are looking forward to seeing through the commitments of the CoP, to help defund the dissemination of disinformation and support industry innovations that contribute to diminishing its incidence.”
IAB Europe will continue to help educate the industry on the importance of the CoP and of its commitments that aim to contribute to a digital space that continues to provide accurate information and views, on terms that are accessible and affordable for all citizens. IAB Europe will also work with other signatories to ensure a strong monitoring framework in order to assess the implementation and impact of the CoP, reporting on its contribution accordingly.
European Digital Advertising Market Grew by 30.5% to achieve €92bn
Turkey Achieved 99.7% Market Growth
Audio Grew By 50.2% Across All Markets
Brussels, Belgium, 25th May, 2022 - IAB Europe, the leading European-level industry association for the digital advertising and marketing ecosystem, announced at its flagship conference Interact 2022 today that digital advertising grew 30.5% in 2021 to €92bn. This exponential growth shows that the digital advertising market has truly bounced back from the challenges and impact of COVID-19.
2021 Digital Advertising Investment
Now in its sixteenth year, The AdEx Benchmark study is the definitive guide to advertising expenditure in Europe, covering 28 markets. In 2021, all markets experienced double-digit year-on-year growth. Turkey was the most dynamic market posting an exceptional growth of 99.7%. In 2021, no markets experienced a decline in digital advertising.
Audio and Video Post Strongest Growth
The study shows that audio saw the largest growth in 2021 at 51.3%. Whilst the audio market still remains small, it represents positive growth. Video also grew by an impressive 46.2% to €18.5bn. Meanwhile display grew by 34.5% to €45.6, with search experiencing a 29.9% increase to €39.5bn.
The AdEx Benchmark Study highlights can be downloaded here.
The full AdEx Benchmark 2021 Report, which will provide full commentary and data across all 28 markets, will be published in June 2022.
Brussels, 17th May 2022 - IAB Europe, the leading European-level industry association for the digital advertising and marketing ecosystem, is delighted to announce the shortlist of finalists for the prestigious MIXX Awards Europe and IAB Europe Research Awards. The annual award competitions showcase the very best of digital advertising from across Europe and the winners will be announced at IAB Europe’s annual Interact conference in Madrid on 25th May 2022!
The shortlists for the MIXX Awards Europe shortlist and IAB Europe Research Awards can be viewed here.
Celebrating and sharing the very latest innovations in digital advertising research and campaign development is a key IAB Europe objective and we would like to thank everyone who took the time to enter.
IAB Europe would also like to thank the jury of experts from across the digital advertising and research industry who dedicated hours of their time to reviewing and discussing all entries. This year’s jury includes experts from Samsung, Vodafone, Meta, Tik Tok, Kantar, DoubleVerify, Yahoo, Bloomberg Media and so many more leading companies. Take a look at the full list of our fantastic judges here.
Antonia Faulkner, Head of Marketing & Analytics at Samsung Ads Europe and APAC and Chair of the MIXX Awards Europe Jury comments: “The MIXX Awards Europe is a great showcase of the latest digital campaign creativity and innovation which drives our industry forward. Chairing the Jury and reviewing so many inspired campaigns has been an honour. Seeing so much creativity come out of what has been a challenging couple of years for everyone is truly humbling.”
Kristanne Roberts, Product Management Director for Kantar Marketplace and Chair of the Research Awards Jury, said: “The IAB Europe Research Awards aim to promote the sharing of best practice across Europe. Winning a Research Award is a great achievement and I am pleased to see so many companies taking the time to enter such high quality projects.”
All winners will be announced at IAB Europe’s flagship digital advertising conference ‘Interact’.
Interact is a must-attend event for the digital advertising and marketing industry. For over 13 years, leading European advertisers, industry experts, agencies & media owners meet, get inspired & share best practices in different capital cities across Europe. Our impressive list of speakers includes experts from Meta, Tik Tok, Google, The Telegraph, Index Exchange, Microsoft and more.
After hosting the event virtually for the past two years, Interact will be back in person this year, and we will be heading to Madrid on 25th and 26th of May! In partnership with IAB Spain, we will be hosting two days of keynote speeches, panel discussions, and networking opportunities.
If you would like to join us in Madrid, tickets are available here.
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Notes to editors
About IAB Europe:
IAB Europe is the European-level association for the digital marketing and advertising ecosystem. Through its membership of media, technology and marketing companies and national IABs, its mission is to lead political representation and promote industry collaboration to deliver frameworks, standards and industry programmes that enable business to thrive in the European market.
Media contact:
Marie-Clare Puffett, Senior Manager, Marketing & Industry Programmes, IAB Europe – puffett@iabeurope.eu
Lauren Wakefield, Marketing and Industry Programmes Director - wakefield@iabeurope.eu
Brussels, 13 May 2022 – IAB Europe today announced that it is withdrawing its request for suspension of the execution of the decision issued by the Litigation Chamber of the Belgian Data Protection Authority (“APD”) on IAB Europe and the Transparency & Consent Framework (TCF). The request for suspension had been submitted as part of the appeal to the Belgian Market Court lodged on 4th March.
The withdrawal coincides with a confirmation by the APD that it will not take a decision on validation of the action plan submitted by IAB Europe until 1st September at the earliest, date by which the Market Court is expected to have issued a ruling on the appeal. The plan, which IAB Europe was required to produce as part of the APD decision, captures how it proposes to deliver on the various orders contained in the decision. The plan is currently being evaluated by the APD, and IAB Europe will have six months to implement it from the date of validation.
“With the APD having confirmed it will not start the clock running on the 6-month implementation period, the operative part of the contested decision, until we expect to have the ruling on the merits, it just makes sense to withdraw the request and focus on the next steps of the appeal”, explained Townsend Feehan, IAB Europe CEO. “Should the decision on the merits of the case not be rendered by the Market Court in this timeframe, for example if it wishes to refer questions to the European Court of Justice, IAB Europe will be able to ask the Market Court for provisional measures at such a time.”
An updated FAQ on the case may be consulted on IAB Europe’s website here.
For more information, please contact Lauren Wakefield, IAB Europe’s Marketing & Industry Programmes Director (wakefield@iabeurope.eu).
IAB Europe has partnered with B2B Marketing Expo, taking place on 22-23rd November 2022 at London’s ExCeL. The event connects the most proactive marketing professionals with the tools, techniques, and innovations they need to be at the forefront of the ever-evolving world of marketing.
Exhibiting at B2B Marketing Expo
As part of our official partnership with B2B, IAB Europe members receive an exclusive exhibitor discount of £50 per sqm discount when booking! Not only that but if you book before the 31st of May you’ll be getting a discount on the Early Bird prices, so don't miss your chance to get the best price possible!
To activate this offer, please contact Christopher Martin, Director of Partnerships on Christoper.Martin@Roarb2B.com
DD: 020 8126 4669
Why book early?
This year, the exhibition promises to be the most forward-thinking to date; housing 200 industry-leading suppliers and 200 educational seminars from some of the world’s top experts and innovative thinkers.
Join one of the most collaborative and inventive communities when they come together face-to-face under one roof at ExCeL London on the 22-23 November 2022.
Supporting our members
As part of the B2B Marketing Expo’s comprehensive seminar programme, the IAB will be presenting a session to an audience of highly engaged marketers.
Thousands of professionals will come together at the ExCeL to research the market, learn about new innovations, and discover the latest strategies and trends to progress and develop their marketing in a unique educational programme, consisting of expert-led seminars and panel debates, live demos of the latest technology, as well as industry leading companies equipped with the industry’s finest solution led products and services.
Find out more about B2B Marketing Expo here or contact the IAB team for further information. Please note all stand bookings must go via the event organiser, ROAR B2B.
25 April 2022, Brussels, Belgium - IAB Europe welcomes the Council and European Parliament on the political agreement reached on the Digital Services Act (DSA) proposal on 23 April. The agreement marks an important further milestone in increasing user and business confidence online.
In particular, we commend the EU institutions’ adherence to much of the Commission’s original vision, and the relative lack of overlap with existing EU law, most notably the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), in the final text.
“Despite having a number of provisions that relate to use of consumer data, DSA will have a separate enforcement regime from the EU’s privacy and data protection legislation”, noted Greg Mroczkowski, IAB Europe Public Policy Director. “Broad restrictions on the use of data for advertising that were discussed during the legislative process looked like creating a risk of rules governing the same data processing being subject to different, competing enforcement regimes, with the risk of confusion for both users and business. While it would appear that the final text mostly avoids this, the regulatory landscape will nonetheless be a very complex one. IAB Europe will remain invested in constructive dialogue with policymakers and regulators with a view to improving legal certainty”.
IAB Europe looks forward to working with the European Commission and other stakeholders on implementation of the new advertising transparency requirements.
1st April, Brussels, Belgium - As part of its regular communication to the market on the Belgian Data Protection Authority (APD)’s decision on IAB Europe and the Transparency & Consent Framework (TCF), IAB Europe has confirmed that the action plan, required by the decision has been submitted today. The submission of the action plan marks a key milestone in the two-phase remediation period foreseen in the decision and should enable a version of the TCF with a broader compliance functionality to be rolled out over a 6-month period under the supervision of the APD.
The action plan outlines how IAB Europe, in its capacity as Managing Organisation of the TCF, will deliver on the formal orders laid down in the decision and reflects in-depth discussions amongst IAB Europe member companies that implement the TCF and convene in the existing TCF working groups and other instances, as well as IAB Tech Lab. These instances are multi-stakeholder, bringing together publishers, ad tech intermediaries, agencies, and CMPs (Consent Management Platforms). The actions in the plan were approved by the TCF Steering Group on 23 March (information about TCF governance is publicly available and may be consulted here). Each of the steps described in the action plan is the result of a careful assessment of which measures appear best suited to meeting the APD’s interpretation of the GDPR and the obligations the decision creates for IAB Europe.
The submission of the action plan is without prejudice to IAB Europe’s appeal of the decision to the Belgian Market Court. The appeal, as previously announced, contests a number of findings in the decision, in particular the findings that IAB Europe acts as a data controller of the TC String (the digital signals created to capture data subjects’ choices on how their personal data can be processed) and as a joint controller for the dissemination of TC Strings and other data processing done by TCF participants under the OpenRTB protocol.
Notwithstanding the appeal to the Market Court, IAB Europe welcomes the opportunity of the forthcoming dialogue with the APD and concerned supervisory authorities on the action plan to solicit their guidance on how best to deliver extended functionality to the TCF. IAB Europe has long aspired to submit the TCF for approval as a transnational GDPR Code of Conduct, and the action plan being submitted today is an important step in this direction.
Once the action plan has been reviewed and validated by the APD and concerned supervisory authorities, IAB Europe will have six months to implement it.
For more information on the APD decision on IAB Europe and the TCF, please find our latest FAQ document here.
Strong growth in online video advertising is being driven by emerging channels and formats but media buyers still seek better measurement solutions
Today, IAB Europe and PubMatic released an industry report titled “The State of Online Video Advertising in Europe”. The report highlights media buyers’ appetite to continue to increase investment in video advertising, in particular connected TV (CTV).
Over 140 online video buyers from agencies and advertisers across 31 European markets took part in the survey-based research generating key insights such as:
“Media buyers are excited about the potential of CTV advertising as it offers a cost effective way to reach audiences that are viewing far less traditional TV. This is appealing to big brands, while also opening an opportunity for smaller brands to invest in TV advertising without the big price tag attached to linear TV,” said Hitesh Bhatt, Senior Director, CTV/OTT, EMEA at PubMatic.
The study also found that when media buyers find the same programmatic video inventory available via multiple sell-side platforms (SSPs) - which is often the case - from almost half say performance KPIs are the most important factor in deciding which SSP to work with. This is followed by cost (26%) and data activation (16%)
“This focus on KPIs as a deciding factor in SSP selection highlights the importance of maximising audience addressability – a known driver of better performance. Combining brand- and publisher-owned first-party data and independent ID solutions helps better predict consumer behaviour and thus maximises the size and accuracy of addressable audiences across the open web,” said Bhatt. “Today, A/B testing different addressability strategies is one of the best ways to establish which partners can deliver the best performance. Early tests show that a portfolio approach delivers the best performance.” said Bhatt.
The deprecation of third-party cookies has changed buyers’ approach to online video advertising in browser environments, however, despite previous reliance on third-party cookies, programmatic remains strong with two-thirds of respondents allocating the majority of budget to programmatic channels.
Key to driving more revenue into digital video will be solving a lack of cross-screen measurement cited by 46% as the biggest barrier and 57% actively seeking more measurable formats. Despite measurement being a significant challenge, almost one-quarter (23%) of digital media buyers are planning digital campaigns as cross-screen including TV in that definition.
Marie-Clare Puffett, Senior Manager, Marketing & Industry Programmes, IAB Europe commented on the research: "IAB Europe and PubMatic's The State of Online Video Advertising study provides a view into the direction of travel in Europe for this growing advertising market. The findings will help advertisers, publishers and the broader digital advertising industry plan ahead and make the most of the opportunities on offer. This report shows that advertisers view online video as a strong channel for brand building. However, there are also clear concerns around cross-device targeting that will need to be addressed for the value of online video advertising to be realised in full. Given the aptitude for innovation in the digital advertising sector I have every confidence these concerns will be overcome and online video will continue as an important channel for brand building."
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