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.
IAB Europe is recruiting! We are looking for an Industry Programmes & Membership Administrator, a Marketing & Events Coordinator, and a Digital Advertising Analyst. If you would like to find out more about these roles and how to apply, keep reading!
Industry Programmes & Membership Administrator
The Industry Programmes coordinator will also be responsible for coordinating IAB Europe’s industry facing committees focused on programmatic trading, brand advertising and research. This will include collaborating with industry stakeholders – from platforms, publishers, agencies and advertising technology companies – on industry initiatives to support the growth and development of digital marketing and advertising in Europe. They will also provide administrative support to IAB Europe’s industry programmes such as sustainability and retail media.
Industry Programmes & Membership key tasks:
Additional experience / skills: The ideal candidate will have previous work experience in a similar role for a minimum of 1 year. Attention to detail, good project management skills and an excellent command of the English language will be beneficial in this position.
The job will be remote working so the person can be based anywhere within Europe. There will be occasional travel to Brussels and other European cities.
Interested candidates should send their CV and cover letter to Marjorie Veys - veys@iabeurope.eu
Marketing & Events Coordinator
The Marketing & Events Coordinator will be responsible for assisting IAB Europe’s marketing department in coordinating all of its marketing efforts to members and the wider digital advertising and marketing community. This will involve assisting the team with their daily activities, whether that is checking copy, managing the website and social engagement, creating a new campaign or event, email marketing, researching trends, or preparing reports. This is a full time role.
Marketing and Communications key tasks:
Additional experience / skills: The ideal candidate will have previous work experience in a similar role for a minimum of 1 year. A natural creative flair, enthusiasm, proactiveness and strong event management skills will be required in this position. A good knowledge of digital marketing tools such as mailchimp, wordpress, zoom etc is desirable. The job will be based in the UK, with remote working. There will be occasional travel to Brussels and other European cities.
Interested candidates should send their CV and cover letter to Marjorie Veys - veys@iabeurope.eu
Digital Advertising Analyst
IAB Europe is looking for a full-time Digital Advertising Analyst. This newly created role is a unique opportunity to contribute to cutting edge research and analysis on the digital advertising market and its intersection with technology, economy and policy.
Location is flexible. The role can be based in Brussels, London or remote in any EU 27 country.
IAB Europe is the European-level association for the digital marketing and advertising ecosystem. Through its membership of National IABs and corporate members (media, technology and marketing companies), its aim is to represent the industry’s interests and proactively drive change to ensure that advertising can continue to support a pluralistic media and the continued availability of a rich universe of online information and other services on terms that make them accessible to everyone.
Scope of role
Reporting to our Chief Economist, the Analyst will support a wide-ranging research agenda through data collection, modelling, analysis, expert liaison and deliver insights through contribution to written reports and presentations. This role will suit a data-savvy individual with a keen interest in digital advertising and technology who has 1-3 years experience.
Key tasks will include:
The successful candidate will have:
Personal Attributes:
Location:
We live in a new culture of work, and this role is suited to remote work. The successful applicant can either be based in our Brussels office, in London where our Chief Economist is located, or remote in any EU-27 country. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure a suitable remote office environment with fast and stable broadband if applying for a remote position.
Conditions:
Competitive salary and associated benefits.
Applications:
To apply, please send your CV & a covering letter by email to jobs@iabeurope.eu with a subject line: ‘Digital Advertising Analyst – Application’. While we may not be able to reach out to every applicant, we will contact candidates whose skills and experience are a strong match for the position.
This September, IAB Europe has been hosting a series of virtual events to discuss and debate trust and transparency in the digital advertising industry. A lack of transparency and accountability will cause notable friction in any value chain, especially in digital advertising. The series of events discuss what’s currently being done and what needs to be done moving forward to ensure a sustainable future.
Last week our headline event, The Great Debate: Trust and Transparency in Digital Advertising, took place and you can now watch the sessions on demand! Keep reading to find out how.
If you missed the event entirely, you can watch the full recording here. If you fancy re watching your favourite sessions, you can find individual recordings and roundups below.
12:05 – Keynote: IAB Europe’s Pan-European Buyer’s Quality Survey Results
Tim Elkington, Chief Digital Officer, IAB UK, presented an overview of IAB Europe’s Pan-European Buyer’s Quality Survey Results.
12:20 – Panel Discussion with audience Q&A: IAB Europe’s Pan-European Buyer’s Quality Survey results
IAB Europe’s survey found that buyers are willing to pay more for premium, high quality and trusted inventory and that the majority prefer to spend their advertising budget with suppliers that adhere to industry standards in the area of quality. National IABs unpacked what this means for national quality standards within their markets and across Europe.
Moderator: Reyes Justribó, Director, IAB Spain
Speakers:
12:55 – Panel Discussion with audience Q&A: Tackling Disinformation in the Digital Advertising Industry
This panel took a look into what disinformation is, how it has grown, and what can be done by the industry to curb the spread. The focus was on ad placement, the Code of Practice on Disinformation and the simple things that can be done by the industry to help tackle it.
Moderator: David Goddard, VP Business Development, DoubleVerify
Speakers:
13:25 – Introductory presentation: Supply Chain Transparency & Sustainability
Speaker: Daniel Knapp, Chief Economist, IAB Europe
13:40 – Panel Discussion with audience Q&A: Supply Chain Transparency & Sustainability
If the digital advertising industry is to increase investment from the buy-side and to continue to benefit consumers through personal, timely and relevant content, then maintaining transparency is critical and ensuring approaches are sustainable is key. This panel looked at the latest initiatives that help to maintain transparency and will dive into how we can ensure sustainability in the supply chain.
Moderator: Lisa Kalyuzhny, RVP, Advertiser Solutions, EMEA, PubMatic
Speakers:
14:15 – New Standards
Presentation by IAB Europe’s Technical Director, Alexandre Nderagakura, on the latest/new standards to drive trust and transparency in our industry.
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.
This September, IAB Europe has been hosting a series of virtual events to discuss and debate trust and transparency in the digital advertising industry. A lack of transparency and accountability will cause notable friction in any value chain, especially in digital advertising. Our series of events will discuss what’s currently being done and what else needs to be done to ensure a sustainable future.
As part of the Trust and Transparency event series, we are hosting a range of Industry Insider sessions with some of our members. We have already heard from Meta and OneTrust but there are more to come! Keep reading to find out more about the upcoming webinars with Verve Group, Adform, Liveramp, and Google.
We will be hearing from Meta, Adform, OneTrust, Verve Group, Novatiq and LiveRamp over the next few weeks, so keep reading to find out more about the live, free events!
Industry Insider with Meta: Supporting Parents, Guardians & Teens
13th September | 12:00 CET
In this session, Meta's policy experts shared an update on how Meta supports teens, parents and caregivers, as well as the efforts to protect the wellbeing and safety of youth on their platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
Industry Insider with OneTrust: Prioritising Data Transparency: A Critical Ingredient in Trust, Loyalty & ROI
14th September | 12:00 CET
Watch the recording of this session to discover how to build trust with consumers through data transparency and clear consent messaging and learn how to increase your marketable database through consented first-party data.
Industry Insider with Adform: Innovation from Adversity – Driving Performance and Incremental Reach in a Post Third-Party Cookie World
3rd October| 12:00 CET
Historically speaking, adversity is one of the best drivers of innovation. The existential threat that third-party cookie deprecation has posed to advertising has driven the rise of scalable, first-party ID solutions. Join us for a fireside chat with Phil Acton, Adform's General Manager, UK, and PwC UK, where, to encourage transparency and engender trust in Adform’s ID Solution, we invited PwC to take a look under the hood to verify our claims.
Industry Insider with Verve Group - Good Things Come in 3’s, Even for Transparency
28th September | 12:00 CET
Whether it be adhesive tape or ad-tech, transparency matters. What used to be implied as clear enough for anyone to see, the principles of transparency have become more scrutinized in our sector. In this presentation, Verve Group will address the obvious, and not-so-obvious, applications of transparency in the places where it is seen–and needed–most. What’s more, the Verve Group team will provide discussions through both international and North American lenses so there is an understanding of where transparency is–and where it is needed.
More event information to come!
Industry Insider with LiveRamp - Key considerations to building trust around Data Collaboration
29th September | 12:00 CET
Data collaboration, clean rooms, and retail media. These are amongst the hottest buzzwords in marketing right now, yet more than half of marketing professionals say they have never used one. Why not? Because most marketers don’t know where to start. Plus, there are still misconceptions that surround how the data is being used. In this session, Ian Fremaux, Solutions Architect and Head of International Pre-Sales at LiveRamp talks through collaboration data 101, the steps those within the advertising ecosystem should take to build relationships based on transparency and trust to connect and allow for effective collaboration, and how brands are successfully executing these strategies right now.
Industry Insider with Google - Safer with Google
27th September | 12:00 CET
Google will first present the results of their latest consumer research with over 20,000 Europeans on the consequences of good and bad privacy experiences online, and then share the company’s approach to balance consumer privacy, users control over data and effective marketing.
One of the key objectives of IAB Europe and any National IAB is to build a sustainable future for digital advertising and marketing. This can be achieved by creating standards and rules to encourage responsibility and quality in digital advertising. Over the last few years there has been a surge of industry challenges from ad fraud to unsafe brand environments which has threatened the quality of digital advertising campaigns. A recent survey by IAB Europe found that 92% of buyers prefer to spend their advertising budget with suppliers that adhere to industry quality standards, such as the IAB UK Gold Standard, Digital Ad Trust in France or IAB Poland QUALID.
In order to highlight the great work being undertaken by National IABs and provide a summary of the national level certification schemes aimed at combating these challenges, IAB Europe first created the National Quality Initiatives Navigator in 2020 and has continued to provide updates to it. The latest version of the Navigator includes a summary of the national level quality certification schemes in Europe plus any other guidelines or best practice guides that exist to enable digital advertising to be delivered responsibly and to the highest quality.
As is evident in the paper, a vast amount of work is being undertaken in Europe and beyond to build and ensure a sustainable future for digital advertising and marketing. There are both similarities and differences across all of these initiatives. As a next step, IAB Europe has formed a Working Group of National IABs to establish whether European Baselines can be established.
Access the latest update to the Navigator here.
