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
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.
—
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.
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
