Building on the momentum from our first CTV workshop in Brussels, we hosted our second Connected TV (CTV) Workshop in London, kindly hosted by FreeWheel.
The workshop brought together representatives from Amazon Ads, EGTA, FreeWheel, IAB UK, MFE, RTE, and Samsung Ads to continue sell-side industry discussions around CTV value, measurement, and standardisation.
The session opened with a fundamental icebreaker: how do we explain CTV in plain terms?
Participants broadly aligned on CTV as a modern form of television, combining the premium, big-screen viewing experience with digital-like flexibility and data. The discussion also reinforced that CTV is not a single, uniform environment, with delivery, buying, and measurement varying across broadcasters and platforms.
You can view our definition of CTV here.
FreeWheel opened the session with a presentation focused on how agencies are approaching CTV amid growing complexity and commercial pressure.
The presentation centred on:
Education remained a key theme, particularly in helping agencies:
Overall, CTV was positioned as a strong opportunity, provided the industry can align on consistent measurement and clearer value frameworks.
A central focus of the workshop was discussion around a proposed CTV measurement framework from IAB Europe, structured around must-have, should-have, and nice-to-have elements.
The discussion resulted in agreement that:
The discussion underscored the importance of balancing technical capability with practical adoption, ensuring the framework supports consistency while remaining flexible for different advertiser goals.
To close the session, EGTA provided a concise broadcaster perspective, emphasising the importance of alignment across the industry as CTV activity increases.
The key takeaway from the presentation was the need to ensure that any new measurement or reporting approaches are developed within a unified framework, helping to avoid further fragmentation across broadcasters, platforms, and markets.
This point reinforced the broader workshop discussion around the value of consistency and shared standards in supporting trust, comparability, and scalability in CTV.
The workshop concluded with agreement on the following next steps:
As CTV continues to scale across Europe, collaboration across agencies, broadcasters, platforms, and industry bodies remains essential. This second workshop marked another important step towards a shared approach to CTV measurement and transparency.
Looking ahead, we will continue this work through the CTV Working Group, bringing together stakeholders from across the ecosystem to further shape and refine the proposed framework ahead of the public comment phase.
Agencies, broadcasters, and media owners interested in contributing to upcoming workshops or learning more about this work are encouraged to get involved. To find out more or to express interest in participating, please contact our Industry Development & Insights Director, Marie-Clare, at puffett [at] iabeuorpe.eu for more information.
While 2026 is already well underway, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on the great work achieved through the Transparency & Consent Framework (TCF) in 2025, and to share what’s coming up next and how you can get involved. From continued ecosystem collaboration to meaningful progress on transparency and trust, 2025 marked an important year for the TCF. As we look ahead, it’s set to be an exciting year for the Framework, and we can’t wait to take you on this journey with us.
A clearer path forward with TCF v2.3
In 2025, we released TCF Version 2.3, a significant evolution of the Framework designed to clarify vendor disclosure. The update introduces a mandatory disclosed vendors segment in the TC String, giving vendors greater legal certainty around whether they were shown to users in CMP interfaces. A transition period is now underway, running until 28th February, after which all newly created TC Strings must comply with v2.3, marking a major step forward for transparency and trust across the ecosystem.
Read more in our article here.
Enhanced Device Storage & Operational Disclosures
Another important milestone was the update to the Device Storage Duration and Operational Disclosures specification. This update strengthens transparency by enabling vendors to provide clearer, more comprehensive disclosures around cookies and other storage mechanisms, including for non-TCF purposes and for Special Purposes. Vendors are also required to declare their SDK package identifiers for mobile environments where applicable. These changes support transparency for end-users and TCF participants..
Find out more here.
TCF Compliance Report
In order to provide the TCF Community with enhanced transparency over the functioning of the Compliance Programmes, IAB Europe has published last year its first annual report for 2024. The report presents the auditing mechanisms put in place by IAB Europe to monitor compliance of participants with the TCF Policies, the number of TCF participants that have been audited in 2024 and key findings from the TCF Compliance team. Stay tuned for the 2025 report that will be published in the coming months!
Find out more here.
As we move further into 2026, several developments will shape the next phase of the TCF.
The rollout of TCF v2.3 continues, with ecosystem participants expected to finalise technical updates ahead of the 1st March compliance deadline. Ensuring systems can correctly write, read, and process the disclosed vendors segment will be a key priority as adoption accelerates.
In parallel, an important regulatory milestone was reached earlier this month, when IAB Europe won its appeal against the Belgian Data Protection Authority’s (APD) January 2023 decision on the TCF. The Belgian Market Court found that the APD’s decision to validate the action plan was legally flawed and annulled it accordingly. As a result, the Belgian Data Protection Authority will now be required to take a new decision that reflects the narrower scope of IAB Europe’s joint controllership, as determined by both the European Court of Justice and the Market Court.
IAB Europe will continue to keep the market informed as the matter returns to the APD for further proceedings. Together, these developments support the continued development of a more transparent, robust, and sustainable Framework in the year ahead, and we’re looking forward to working closely with our community to continue its success in 2026.
For more information on the TCF, our work, and how you can get involved, please contact the team at framework [at] iabeurope.eu.
As Retail & Commerce Media continues to mature across Europe, 2026 is already shaping up to be a defining year for the ecosystem. To start the year strong, our first Retail Media Spotlight of 2026 brings together the latest standards, tools, training, and thought leadership from across our Retail & Commerce Media Committee.
This edition marks the launch of two major industry releases, designed to tackle some of Retail Media’s most persistent challenges: measurement consistency and creative complexity. Alongside these updates, you’ll find new opportunities to build skills, engage with peers, and stay ahead of the trends shaping Retail and Commerce Media investment in the year ahead.
Measurement remains one of the biggest barriers to growth in Retail & Commerce Media, and we’re tackling it head-on. The newly released Commerce (Incl. Retail) Media Measurement Standards V2 deliver clearer definitions, a streamlined measurement funnel, and robust guidance on incrementality, new-to-brand, and sales reporting. Shaped by real-world industry feedback, the standards drive greater consistency and comparability across retailers and markets, helping unlock more confident, measurable commerce media investment.
Bring the standards to life with ourRetail Media Certification Programme. Retailers and ad tech partners can demonstrate audited compliance with our measurement standards, giving buyers greater confidence and transparency. A six-month transition period allows compliance with either V1 or V2 measurement standards until the end of July 2026, making now the ideal time to start your certification journey.
For more information, follow the link below, or contact us at retailmediastandards@iabeurope.eu.
Creative complexity is slowing Retail Media down, and our new Flexi Ad Sizes Guidelinesare here to fix it. Developed with Tesco Media, the guidance introduces four flexible aspect ratios for static display ads and is designed to work seamlessly across screens and environments. The result? Faster activation, fewer custom builds, and access to bigger budgets, without sacrificing creativity.
Get up to speed with Retail Media by joining our Retail Media Essentialsonline training on Thursday, 5th March. This interactive, online course covers the core building blocks of Retail Media, from ecosystem fundamentals and omnichannel strategy to measurement best practices. Ideal for brands, agencies, retailers, and ad tech professionals looking to turn insight into action in 2026.
As a member, you’re entitled to a 20% discount. Contact the team at communication [at] iabeurope.eu for more details.
To support media buyers in navigating the Retail and Commerce Media landscape, we’ve released the latest and most up-to-date edition of our Pan-European Retailer Digital Advertising Capability Map. Now including 27 retailers, it provides a clear and comprehensive view of retailer advertising capabilities across Europe.
Mark your calendar for 21st April at 14:00 CET when the highly anticipated virtual edition of our Great Debate: Retail Media returns. Join industry leaders for Oxford-style debates, interactive panels, and spotlight sessions tackling the biggest questions in Retail & Commerce Media today. Keep your eyes peeled for more details coming soon here, and secure your spot below.
This week, we announced the re-election of Jason Wescott (WPP Media) and Patricia Grundmann (BVDW) as Chair and Vice-Chair of our Retail & Commerce Media Committee for a further two-year term. First appointed in January 2024, they have led major progress, including pan-European Retail Media Measurement Standards, the Retail Media Certification programme, and the Retail Media Impact Summit. In their new term, they will continue driving collaboration, standards, and growth across Europe’s Retail & Commerce Media ecosystem.
What’s next for Retail & Commerce Media? Our latest Q&A blog dives into the biggest strategic shifts shaping the year ahead. From measurement and media formats to data, AI, and ecosystem expectations, Committee members share practical insights and predictions you won’t want to miss.
Driving Measurement Clarity and Scalable Activation Across Retail & Commerce Media
Brussels, Belgium, 22nd January, 2026 - IAB Europe, the leading association for the digital advertising and marketing industry, has released two significant new resources designed to accelerate the maturity, scalability, and effectiveness of Retail & Commerce Media across Europe:
As Retail and Commerce Media investment continues to grow, advertisers, agencies, retailers, and ad tech providers are increasingly aligned on the need for consistent measurement frameworks and scalable creative solutions. IAB Europe’s latest guidance, developed with the Retail & Commerce Media Committee and our Retailer Leaders Council, aims to support this next phase of growth by addressing two of the sector’s most pressing challenges: how performance is measured and how creative is delivered at scale.
Commerce (Incl. Retail) Media Measurement Standards V2
Originally published in April 2024, the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards have now been updated following a public comment period from September to November 2025. The revised standards, now titled the IAB Europe Commerce Media Measurement Standards V2, reflect extensive industry feedback and the expanding scope of commerce-driven media.
The updated standards introduce several key enhancements, including:
The guidance also reinforces that a 30-day lookback window is the default for reporting, while still requiring retailers and ad tech providers to offer flexible, customisable options. Looking ahead, IAB Europe plans to expand the standards beyond quick commerce, with future editions set to include travel and finance media networks in 2026.
“Our research shows that a lack of standardisation remains the biggest barrier to Retail and Commerce Media growth,” said Jason Wescott, Global Head of Commerce Solutions at WPP Media & Chair of IAB Europe’s Retail & Commerce Media Committee. “The updated measurement standards are a direct response to this challenge, bringing greater clarity, consistency, and comparability to commerce media measurement, while still allowing the flexibility needed to reflect different business models and market maturity.”
To support real-world adoption, the standards are further underpinned by IAB Europe’s Retail Media Certification Programme, which enables retailers and ad tech partners to demonstrate audited compliance with the measurement standards. There is a six‑month grace period during which retailers and ad tech partners may comply with either V1 or V2 of the standards. This transition window runs until the end of July 2026.
Flexi Ad Sizes Guidelines
Alongside the measurement standards, IAB Europe is also introducing new Flexi Ad Sizes Guidelines for Retail Media Networks, designed to reduce the complexity caused by fragmented and non-standard ad formats across Retail Media.
Developed in collaboration with Tesco Media, the guidance recommends a set of four flexible aspect ratios for static display ads, designed to work seamlessly across devices.
The approach aims to reduce operational complexity, unlock broader budgets, and improve the customer experience, while preserving flexibility for innovation.
Commenting on the guidelines, Steve Shepherd, Head of Media Strategy & Consulting, Tesco Media, said,“It’s been great to work with IAB Europe and other retailers on the retail media flexible ad-size creative format. Aligning on a shared industry approach is critical to help retail media mature and scale. Ultimately, this new format will make creative easier to build and deploy across devices and, most importantly, deliver a better experience for shoppers.”
Both resources reflect IAB Europe’s ongoing commitment to collaboration, transparency, and practical standards that support the growth of Retail & Commerce Media across the ecosystem.
The updated Commerce Media Measurement Standards V2 and Flexi Ad Sizes Guidelinesare available on IAB Europe’s website. You can also access the FAQ document here.
To learn more about IAB Europe’s Retail & Commerce Media work and how to get involved, visit the Retail Media Hub or contact Marie-Clare Puffett at puffett [at] iabeurope.eu.
Brussels, Belgium, 20th January, 2026 - IAB Europe is delighted to announce that Jason Wescott and Patricia Grundmann have been re-elected as Chair and Vice-Chair of the IAB Europe Retail & Commerce Media Committee for the next two-year term.
Jason Wescott, Global Head of Commerce Solutions at WPP Media, and Patricia Grundmann, Chairwoman of Retail Media Circle, Bundesverband Digitale Wirtschaft (BVDW) e.V. and Vice President Media & Retail Media, Managing Director OBI First Media Group, were first elected to their leadership roles in January 2024. Under their guidance, the Committee has delivered significant progress in advancing pan-European definitions, standards, and industry resources that strengthen the Retail & Commerce Media ecosystem.
During their first term, Jason and Patricia delivered several landmark initiatives, including the launch of pan-European Retail Media Measurement Standards, progress on IAB Europe’s Retail Media Certification programme, and the successful delivery of the Retail Media Impact Summit. The Committee also grew its membership, welcoming new retailers, platforms, and technology partners to further enhance cross-industry collaboration.
In their new term, Jason and Patricia will continue to lead the Committee’s efforts to support cross-stakeholder initiatives, drive market understanding, and further develop frameworks that help the Retail and Commerce Media sector scale and thrive across Europe.
Jason Wescott, Chair of the Retail & Commerce Media Committee, commented, “I’m grateful to the committee members for re‑electing me as Chair; it’s a privilege to continue this work for another two years alongside Vice-Chair, Patricia Grundmann, and the fantastic team at IAB Europe. With collaboration, energy, and diligence, our committee will continue to raise the bar—driving trusted measurement, convening the industry at our Impact Summit, and delivering insights that create business value.”
Patricia Grundmann, Vice-Chair of the Committee, added, "I am honoured to have been re-elected to my role as Vice-Chair of the IAB Europe Retail & Commerce Media Committee. The progress we have made in our first term – particularly with pan-European measurement standards and the growth of our community – is a testament to our excellent collaboration. I look forward to continuing our efforts alongside Jason and the entire IAB Europe team to further scale and drive the success of the Retail and Commerce Media sector across Europe."
The Retail & Commerce Media Committee brings together leading retailers and Retail and Commerce Media businesses from across Europe to collaborate on definitions, guidelines, capability maps, measurement frameworks, and thought leadership. Members have already contributed to landmark resources, including pan-European definitions, the first industry-association-led Retailer Digital Advertising Capability Map, and Retail Media Measurement Standards, all available via the Retail Media Hub.
For more information about the Committee’s work and how to get involved, please contact IAB Europe’s Industry Development & Insights Director, Marie-Clare Puffett at puffett [at] iabeurope.eu.
Jason Wescott, Global Head of Commerce Solutions at WPP Media
Jason, a luminary in Global Commerce at GroupM, possesses a dynamic 15-year journey, spanning b2b sales, E-Commerce, and Retail Media.
As the former European E-Commerce lead for Hasbro, he seamlessly transitioned his expertise to pivotal senior Commerce roles at Publicis Groupe and now WPP’s GroupM.
Jason's fervour lies in crafting global growth strategies that seamlessly integrate people, data, and AdTech. His client engagements have included Colgate-Palmolive, Amazon, Samsung, P&G, HP, Disney, and Vodafone.
Patricia GrundmannVP of Retail Media, MD OBI First Media Group
As an experienced leader in the retail media sector, Patricia has helped to build up and manage the OBI First Media Group over the past 6 years. First as Lead, as Head of, then as Director and currently as Vice President Retail Media and Managing Director, the topics of Business Strategy & Development, Product Development, Marketing and Leadership are close to her heart.
Before joining OBI, she was Head of Business Development & Partner Management at OTTO Group / shopping 24. For more than 3.5 years was Team Lead Sales & Marketing for moebel.de Einrichten & Wohnen AG, a subsidiary of ProSiebenSat1. She was able to develop her passion for the topics of communication, innovation and transformation as well as her passion for brands and people as co-founder of a consulting firm for ideation.
More than two-thirds of European digital advertising leaders expect investment or revenue to increase over the next 12 months
Report calls for clearer measurement frameworks and more unified approaches across digital advertising
Brussels, Belgium, 15th January, 2026 - IAB Europe has today released its inaugural Attitudes to Digital Advertising Report, offering a comprehensive snapshot of a European digital advertising ecosystem that is growing in scale and sophistication, while continuing to face structural and operational challenges.
Building on more than a decade of insights from the long-running Attitudes to Programmatic Advertising study, the new report expands its scope to reflect the reality of today’s market, spanning display, video, Connected TV (CTV), and digital audio. The findings show an industry that is maturing and diversifying, but where progress is uneven across channels, formats, and stakeholder groups.
The survey was developed by IAB Europe’s Advertising and Media Committee and received over 170 responses between October and November 2025. Participants included advertisers, agencies, ad tech companies, and publishers, representing pan-European and global-with-European-remit roles, as well as professionals operating across more than 25 individual markets.
The findings of the report highlight a digital advertising landscape that continues to expand and mature, but where progress is uneven and structural challenges persist. As investment grows and emerging channels accelerate, the need for greater standardisation, clearer measurement frameworks, and improved operational consistency becomes increasingly urgent across the ecosystem - priorities that sit at the heart of the work of IAB Europe’s Advertising & Media Committee.
Key Findings from the Report:
Commenting on the findings of the report, IAB Europe’s Industry Development & Insights Director, Marie-Clare Puffett, said, “This report shows an industry that continues to grow, but where fragmentation is holding progress back. As investment increases and new channels scale, clearer measurement and more unified approaches will be essential. Addressing these challenges will require collaboration across the ecosystem to build trust, consistency, and long-term confidence in digital advertising.”
Wayne Tassie, Chair of IAB Europe’s Advertising & Media Committee, added, “Building on more than a decade of programmatic research, this expanded study captures the realities of today’s market, from growing investment in CTV and Retail Media to the accelerating impact of AI. By bringing together perspectives from across the ecosystem, it offers a clear and balanced view of where the industry stands, while reinforcing collaboration and supporting the continued growth and maturity of digital advertising across Europe.”
The findings of the report will inform and shape the ongoing work of IAB Europe’s Advertising and Media Committee, helping to guide future initiatives, best practices, and industry collaboration.
The full report can be downloaded from IAB Europe’s website here.
To find out more about our work and how you can get involved, please get in touch with our Industry Development & Insights Director, Marie-Clare Puffett at puffett [at] iabeurope.eu.
For all press enquiries, please contact IAB Europe’s Marketing & Communications Director, Lauren Wakefield at wakefield [at] iabeurope.eu.
An industry initiative from IAB Europe's Addressability & Measurement Working Group
The advertising ecosystem is in the middle of a structural shift. Signal loss, evolving regulation, and new technical constraints have pushed the industry to rethink how addressability, activation, measurement, and optimisation actually work in a privacy-first world. At the same time, the number of available solutions (both ID and ID-less) has grown rapidly, often faster than shared understanding.
Within the Addressability & Measurement Working Group (AMWG), we are tackling this problem by building a comprehensive Solution Mapping, a practical landscape that maps products and companies to concrete addressability and measurement use cases across the advertising lifecycle.
The AMWG Solution Mapping Matrix is designed to answer a simple but critical question: which solutions support which use cases?
With input from the Working Group, we finalised a shared set of use cases across five key areas:
These range from familiar capabilities like audience activation, contextual targeting, and campaign reporting, to more complex and emerging areas such as clean room–based planning, federated learning infrastructure, probabilistic cohorts, attention measurement, and machine-learning model training systems.Using this agreed-upon framework, we have already drafted an initial matrix for ID-less solutions. We are now applying the exact same use-case framework to ID-based solutions, so that the industry can compare approaches on a like-for-like basis.
Across committees, markets, and conversations, we see the same challenge: a lack of shared, practical knowledge about available solutions, the problems they solve, and how they are used, which slows adoption, creates confusion for publishers, advertisers, agencies, and platforms under growing regulatory and technical pressure, and this is why this work builds on the Addressability & Measurement Solutions Report to turn insights into something tangible and usable.
By grounding the discussion in clearly defined use cases, the Solution Mapping Matrix aims to:
Once both the ID and ID-less matrices are complete, the Working Group will:
Please review the shared document and add your company/products in the “ID Matrix” tab, selecting the appropriate use-case checkboxes. Examples are already included to guide you.
The deadline to participate is Friday, 6th February.
Your contribution will directly shape how the industry understands and advances addressability and measurement in a privacy-first era.
Specifically, we are looking for your help to add your company and/or products to the ID Matrix and select the relevant use-case checkboxes that your solution supports.
For additional information and questions, please reach out to:
Marie-Clare Puffett puffett [at] iabeurope.eu
Lucio Gagliardi gagliardi [at] iabeurope.eu
Brussels, Belgium, 9th January 2026 – IAB Europe welcomes the announcement by IAB Tech Lab of its Agentic Roadmap for Digital Advertising, unveiled on 6th January 2026.
As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly embedded across the digital advertising value chain, shared frameworks that support interoperability, transparency, and responsible innovation will be indispensable. The Tech Lab initiative reflects growing industry interest in enabling more intelligent, automated interactions across buying, selling, and measurement environments, while maintaining trust, accountability, and choice.
IAB Europe has long supported the development of open, collaborative standards that help the market evolve in a way that works for advertisers, publishers, technology providers, and users alike. The industry already benefits from a strong foundation of shared, globally adopted standards. Initiatives that explore how agent-based systems can operate within a standards-based ecosystem build on this foundation. They provide a pragmatic and sustainable space for experimentation and learning for the industry, while strengthening the ecosystem through existing infrastructure.
As agent-enabled approaches develop, ensuring that advertiser and publisher intent can be expressed clearly and interpreted consistently across the open internet will remain a critical foundation for scalable, trustworthy automation.
“We see agentic technologies as part of a broader evolution in digital advertising”, said Townsend Feehan, IAB Europe CEO. “What matters most is that innovation continues to be guided by openness, interoperability, and respect for existing market structures and regulatory expectations - which latter will be conditioned by Europe’s AI Act and implementing measures. Constructive dialogue and coordination across initiatives will be key.”
IAB Europe looks forward to continued engagement with Tech Lab and the wider ecosystem as these discussions progress, and to contributing European market perspectives to the ongoing exploration of agentic workflows.
About IAB Europe
IAB Europe is the European-level association for the digital marketing and advertising ecosystem. Through its membership of national IABs and media, technology and marketing companies, its mission is to lead political representation and promote industry collaboration to deliver frameworks, standards and industry programmes that enable businesses to thrive in the European market
Brussels, Belgium - 9th January 2026: IAB Europe welcomes the ruling of the Belgian Market Court (part of the Brussels Court of Appeal) in relation to its appeal against the January 2023 decision by the Belgian Data Protection Authority (APD), which had validated IAB Europe’s action plan and triggered a 6-month timeframe for its implementation.
Because several measures proposed in the action plan stemmed from the APD’s assumption that IAB Europe acted not only as a joint controller for the processing of TC Strings but also for subsequent data processing - which was overturned by the Market Court’s prior ruling of 14 May 2025 - IAB Europe challenged the scope of the validation, which required implementation of modifications to the TCF outside the perimeter of its controllership.
The Market Court has now agreed with IAB Europe, finding that the APD’s decision to validate the action plan was legally flawed and annulling it accordingly. As a result, the APD will now have to take a new decision reflecting the narrower scope of IAB Europe’s joint controllership, as determined by both the European Court of Justice and the Market Court itself.
In addition, the Market Court found that the APD had violated IAB Europe’s right to be heard by adopting its decision of January 2023 without permitting IAB Europe to take position on it.
“We welcome this ruling by the Market Court and its clear confirmation of IAB Europe’s limited role in the TCF”, said Townsend Feehan, IAB Europe’s CEO. “It shows that several orders of the APD’s decision of February 2022 went too far, and that the scope of the decision of January 2023 was also too broad as a result. The ruling provides an opportunity for a reset, and we look forward to an exchange with the APD on the action plan as well as on the future evolution of the TCF, for the benefit of both users and TCF participants.”
Finally, the complainants who initiated the proceedings against the TCF had also appealed the APD’s decision to validate the action plan, arguing that they should have been involved in the procedure. The Market Court rejected these claims as unfounded.
An updated FAQ on the case may be consulted on IAB Europe's website here. IAB Europe will continue to keep the market updated on the case as the matter returns to the APD for further proceedings.
IAB Europe is launching a suite of market intelligence services that deliver data and analysis on major issues facing the digital advertising ecosystem in Europe. The new products are an extension of IAB Europe’s established role, providing data and insight through the widely regarded AdEx Benchmark Report. As the leading European-level association for the digital marketing and advertising ecosystem, IAB Europe has the market position and industry reputation to launch a compelling portfolio of services. We are looking for a digital marketer who has experience bringing B2B subscription products to market. This person should understand user journeys, website UX, and conversion tactics to help drive a successful launch in May 2026.
Scope of the role
Feeding into IAB Europe’s Marcoms team, the Marketing Consultant will bring their expertise in conversion marketing to develop the collateral needed to sell these services to customers in the digital advertising ecosystem and beyond. We are looking for someone to shape the tactics and create the copy across channels, including: the content and IA of the pages on IAB Europe’s website, product one-pagers, and templates for social media posts.
Expected project period: January-April 2026
Specific tasks
Qualifications
The ideal candidate will have previous experience in a similar role and possess the following criteria:
Location
The position is fully remote.
About IAB Europe
IAB Europe is a European-level industry association of national federations and corporate members active in digital advertising and marketing. Its mission is to promote Europe’s digital advertising & marketing industry through policy advocacy and the development of legal compliance tools and business standards, helping to ensure that advertising continues to finance a rich universe of online content & services, including independent media, that is accessible on terms that all citizens can afford. Through its direct corporate membership and that of its national federations, it represents some 3,000-4,000 companies across the advertising ecosystems, from advertisers and agencies to adtech vendors, publishers, broadcasters, eCommerce platforms, and retailers.
Submission of application
Interested candidates are invited to submit their CV, salary expectations and a cover letter to Amy Mazzola, Marketing & Events Director, IAB Europe - mazzola [at] iabeurope.eu
The Q&A brings together three industry leaders from our Retail & Commerce Media Committee to unpack what 2026 holds for Retail and Commerce Media. All agree the year will be pivotal: rapid market expansion, rising competition, and the blurring of Retail Media with search and programmatic will force retailers to differentiate through stronger collaboration, modernised infrastructure, and clearer value propositions.
AI emerges as a transformative force - not just for optimisation, but for reshaping the entire commerce layer, from automated operations to real‑time personalisation and even AI‑driven shopping decisions. Success will depend on retailers building trusted, interoperable data and tech foundations that allow AI to enhance the full customer journey.
Measurement remains the industry’s biggest hurdle and greatest opportunity. Progress hinges on shared definitions, aligned reporting frameworks, and cross‑stakeholder cooperation to build transparency, comparability, and confidence, especially around incrementality.
Looking ahead, the wish list of each leader centres on integration, collaboration, and maturity: unified omnichannel planning, stronger data partnerships, simpler tech, and a more committed buy‑side. If Europe can align around these priorities, it has the potential to set the global benchmark for a connected, accountable, and creatively ambitious retail media ecosystem.
A big thank you to the following contributors for sharing their thoughts:
Ollie Shayer, Sr Director, Global Strategy and Innovation, SMG
Lucie Laurendon, Product Marketing Director - Supply and Emerging Channels, Equativ
Lars Djuvik, CRO, Pentaleap
Ollie: “2026 will be a defining year for Retail Media. The market will continue to grow at pace, both in investment and in the volume of networks entering the space. That expansion brings enormous opportunity, but also a real challenge around differentiation. Retailers will need to move beyond capability checklists to articulate what makes their proposition truly distinctive. Success will depend on the ability to collaborate, to build meaningful partnerships with brands and agencies that focus less on channels and more on creating value together. The next phase of growth will come from clarity, creativity, and genuine collaboration.”
Lucie: “The coming year presents a critical turning point for the Retail Media industry. Omnichannel is not yet real and doesn’t deliver its promise to truly anchor the unified customer journey, as on-site, off-site, in-store, and CTV are managed by separate teams and tools.
But opportunities are strong as Retail Media is expected to continue growing fast in spend and networks in 2026. Retailers should collaborate on shared frameworks and definitions. Tech providers can support them with packaged offers to activate and leverage first-party data and unified reporting for omnichannel campaign visibility.
Off-site is becoming key to grow beyond the main point of purchase. It can expand faster with simpler tech and data activation. With AI coming into the market and the impact it may have on on-site traffic, off-site becomes an even stronger opportunity. It lets retailers reach their audiences everywhere and prepare for new behaviours. Many new formats are emerging, especially video and shoppable formats, which offer opportunities to drive performance and create differentiation.”
Lars: “I see the central challenge and opportunity for 2026 being the critical convergence of Retail Media, search, and programmatic channels, driven by intense market saturation and the proliferation of RMNs. For retailers to capitalise, they must move decisively to modernise their ad infrastructure. One way to do this is to shift away from legacy ad servers toward Real-Time Bidding (RTB)-native, lightning-fast solutions. These platforms must be engineered to fluidly accept unified demand from every possible avenue, including direct sales, proprietary APIs, and open programmatic exchanges, ensuring retailers capture budgets wherever advertisers choose to buy.”
Ollie: “AI will play a fundamental role in shaping the next phase of Retail Media’s evolution. Its potential extends far beyond optimisation. It will increasingly streamline the day-to-day operations of Retail Media Networks, automating planning, targeting, and reporting to free teams for more strategic work. This operational lift will allow networks to focus on what sets them apart: data, creativity, and customer experience. In parallel, AI will continue to enhance personalisation and insight, helping retailers better understand how shoppers engage and convert. The real opportunity lies in using AI not just to increase efficiency, but to elevate the quality and intelligence of the entire Retail Media ecosystem.”
Lucie: “AI is transforming the whole digital advertising ecosystem, including Retail and Commerce Media. Automating media planning, precise targeting, and complete reporting, while improving personalised ad delivery in real time, is now becoming a reality. However, the real disruptive shift is that a new commerce layer is forming where AI can trigger transactions directly. AI tools and APIs are moving toward integrated product recommendations and shoppable features in Large Language Models (LLMs) environments, as seen recently with Shopify or Instacart. AI agents will guide shopping decisions, not just product searches. Soon or later, AI Agents will become true virtual personal shoppers, buying products and services at the best deals and the fastest delivery time.
Retailers must build strong data and tech infrastructure so AI can find, read, and trust their catalogues, ensuring their products remain part of the shopper journey.”
Lars: “I believe the role of AI in Retail Media Networks (RMNs) will be a matter of strategic integration, not introduction. The RMNs that will thrive are those that fully leverage the existing, best-in-class AI already powering their core retail and commerce systems. This commerce-specific intelligence is essential for hyper-personalisation, smart bidding optimisation, and real-time ad relevance. Introducing a separate, external, and potentially costly AI solution risks creating a fragmented customer experience and a conflict with the core AI that already drives purchase propensity and site recommendations. The future of Commerce Media depends on utilising this native AI to deliver the trusted, closed-loop value proposition that uniquely connects the entire shopping journey.”
Ollie: “Measurement remains both the biggest challenge and the most important opportunity. The key will be collaboration, bringing retailers, brands, and agencies together to align on what effectiveness really means. That does not mean uniformity, but rather a shared language and clearer definitions across metrics like ROAS, incrementality, and long-term brand impact. We have focused heavily on performance-based metrics in recent years, but 2026 will require a more holistic understanding of success that connects short-term performance with long-term growth. True transparency and confidence will only come through partnership, shared accountability, and the ability to demonstrate credible value across every part of the funnel.”
Lucie: “To reach a truly transparent and standardised Retail Media measurement, we need the whole industry to align on shared rules and shared language. Common definitions for metrics like ROAS, incrementality, and attribution are the base. IAB Europe is already working on these standards, and this is helping to move the market in the same direction. But standards alone are not enough. Retailers, brands, agencies, and tech partners must work together and align on how data is tracked, calculated, and reported. When reporting frameworks follow the same structure, it becomes easier to compare results across networks. This builds trust and supports healthier growth for everyone.”
Lars: “I recognise that achieving a truly transparent and standardised Retail Media measurement ecosystem is a complex, long-term challenge due to inherent differences in retail purchase cycles and attribution. The most critical, immediate steps involve solving incrementality through AI-driven reporting and moving past broad industry debates to focus on actionable standards within specific vertical sub-categories like grocery and apparel. While full standardisation will not be solved in 2026, collaborative bodies like IAB Europe remain essential to building the trust and comparability required for Retail Media to unlock true brand media budgets.”
Ollie: “My focus for 2026 is integration. Europe has a unique opportunity to show how mature Retail Media can operate when creativity, technology, and partnership come together around shared objectives. I would like to see a more unified approach to planning that connects on site, off site, and in store into one cohesive ecosystem, with consistent measurement and stronger creative ambition. If retailers and brands can move from operating in silos to building shared roadmaps and common success metrics, Europe can lead the way in setting the global standard for connected, accountable, and creative retail media growth.
Lucie: “My wish list for Retail Media in Europe in 2026 starts with stronger data collaboration across retailers supported by tech. Today, each works in a silo, slowing scale and comparison. Better collaboration, along with simpler tech and data offers, would help everyone compete with the big walled gardens and allow off-site to grow faster, reaching more shoppers. I also hope to see wider adoption of real omnichannel strategies where on-site, off-site, store, and CTV work together to make the shopper journey clearer and more effective. Finally, deeper AI partnerships between retailers and tech providers will help prepare for changing shopper behaviours, as AI becomes a personal shopper influencing where and how people buy.”
Lars: “My top wish for Retail Media in Europe in 2026 is the accelerated maturity of advertiser demand. The European market is already on a strong growth trajectory, expanding nearly four times faster than the total digital ad market, but needs continued buy-side commitment to move beyond experimental spend. This is a self-fulfilling prophecy: as retailers adopt RTB-native infrastructure and simplify buying via programmatic channels, and as the industry delivers on standardised measurement and incrementality, the friction historically constraining investment will disappear. This strategic focus on efficiency and transparency is the key to securing the next wave of brand media budgets and sustaining Europe’s massive growth.”
IAB Europe’s Retail & Commerce Media Committee is at the forefront of the Retail Media industry. Members are driving Retail Media growth and shaping the landscape by:
All of the work of the Committee can be found in our Retail Media Hub here.
Find out more about our work and how you can get involved by contacting Marie-Clare Puffett - puffett [at] iabeurope.eu.
As we step into 2026, it’s the perfect moment to set ambitious goals, not just for your business outcomes, but for your own professional growth. If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to level up your skills, there’s no better way to start than by investing in training.
At IAB Europe, our training courses are designed to help digital advertising professionals like you thrive in the rapidly changing and growing world of key areas such as Retail Media and Environmental Sustainability.
Whether you’re new to these areas or looking to deepen your expertise, there’s a learning path for everyone.
Retail Media Essentials - 10:30 - 12:30 CET Thursday, 5th March
This interactive course covers the core concepts you need to know: omnichannel Retail Media strategies, measurement standards, in-store opportunities, and the latest market trends. Perfect for those starting out or wanting to solidify their foundation.
Condensed Course on Environmental Sustainability in Digital Advertising - 10:30 - 13:30 CET Thursday 12th March
This focused, three-hour session delivers a compact yet powerful overview of sustainability in digital advertising. Topics include key environmental frameworks, carbon emissions across the ad ecosystem, and practical strategies to reduce your campaign’s carbon footprint. It’s perfect for professionals of all levels seeking actionable insights in a time-efficient format.
All courses are developed and delivered by experienced industry practitioners, offering interactive sessions, practical frameworks, and actionable takeaways.
Yara Daher
Yara is a Retail Media pioneer who helped launch some of the industry’s first major Retail Media Networks for brands like Walmart,
Target and Best Buy.
Arjen Heida
Arjen is a retail and commerce media leader who drove triple-digit growth as Managing Director of bol Retail Media. He now advises on strategy, capability building, and growth.
Dimitris Beis
Dimitris drives IAB Europe’s initiatives in sustainability, offering educational resources and in-depth emissions analysis while contributing to industry standards for digital channels.
on’t let 2026 be another year where development gets left behind. By resolving to upskill, you’ll not only expand your professional toolkit — you’ll help drive stronger, more strategic outcomes for your organisation in sustainability and Retail Media.
Explore all of our courses here and start your learning journey with IAB Europe Training today.
Members of IAB Europe are eligible for a discount on training courses. Please reach out to the team at communication [at] iabeurope.eu for more information.
