With the festive season in full swing and a new year fast approaching, we invite you to join us in reflecting on what has shaped 2024 for us, our members, and the industry overall.
This blog post showcases some of IAB Europe’s best bits and all the great work we have accomplished with our wonderful members and partners this year. Thank you all for your hard work, support, and expertise and for helping us make 2024 a great success.
So, let’s dive in…
From our flagship conference Interact in Milan to newly added Great Debates, Virtual Programmatic Days, and dedicated webinars on topics such as DE&I, we have covered a variety of interesting topics through our virtual and in-person events this year.
Below we have highlighted some of our most popular events. If you want to watch any of our events on demand, simply head to our Knowledge Hub and select ‘Watch on Demand’ in the side menu.
Interact 2024 in Milan - The Big Questions. The Sharp Answers
This year we headed to the vibrant city of Milan for Interact 2024, where we brought industry leaders, innovators, and experts together to answer the big questions shaping the future of digital advertising. Going beyond standard keynote presentations and panel discussions, we brought the ‘interactive’ back to Interact, with each session framed around a key question that our elite, expert speakers endeavoured to answer.
From the demise of third-party cookies and Retail Media to sustainability, policy, measurement, and more, we had the smart, sharp answers to our industry's biggest questions of today. Check out the event wrap-up here.
One Virtual and One Hybrid Virtual Programmatic Day
Our Virtual Programmatic Day (VPD) is one of our most popular events, bringing industry experts and thought leaders together to explore the latest trends, drives, and barriers impacting programmatic trading in Europe.
This year our H1 virtual event covered the hottest topics in the news, the new programmatic ecosystem, media quality, attention, and more.
Check out the session recordings and highlights from our H1 event here.
For our H2 hybrid event, we headed to Berlin, where topics included the results of and thoughts on our 10th annual Attitudes to Programmatic Report, the future of personalisation, the impact of MFAs, and how prepared the industry is for the addressability era.
Check out the session recordings and highlights from our H2 event here.
The Great Debate Series
Our Great Debate series of events brings industry experts together to discuss and debate the industry’s hottest topics of the moment. This year we added AI to the agenda and also hosted a hybrid event on Retail Media.
Check out our Great Debate event recordings and highlights below:
More Bespoke Events
As well as our main events, we hosted several bespoke events and webinars on critical topics including Connected TV, Quality, DE&I, and Programmatic Outcomes. Check out some of them below:
We have a passion for research, and our wealth of experience conducting industry attitudes and benchmarking studies across various digital advertising topics speaks for itself. Here are our top five research highlights from 2024:
All of our guides are created with the help and expertise of our industry committee members. Check out some of our top trending pieces below:
In collaboration with our Retail Media Committee, we have been actively driving initiatives to educate and elevate the Retail Media landscape in Europe, focusing specifically on the development of standards such as:
Jason Wescott, Global Head of Commerce Solutions, GroupM & IAB Europe’s Retail Media Committee Chair
"2024 marked a transformative year for IAB Europe in Retail Media, as our focus on the category intensified. Witnessing the positive impact and influence of our efforts across the industry has been immensely gratifying, as we united to enhance understanding of digital Retail Media and establish standards to enable its growth and success across Europe.
Looking ahead to 2025, I am excited to announce that In-Store Measurement Standards, Certification for Measurement Standards, and a Retail Media Training Programme are all in the pipeline. These accomplishments are a testament to the knowledge and dedication of our exceptional committee members and industry network, along with our efficacious collaboration."
You can explore all of this great content and more of the work from our committee on our Retail Media Hub.
In collaboration with our Sustainability Standards Committee, we have continued our great work to help reduce the carbon emissions produced by the delivery of digital advertising this year. Here are some of the new tools and key outputs we have produced to support this important topic:
Steffen Hubert, Associate Director and Lead Sustainability, Seven.One Entertainment Group & Vice-Chair of IAB Europe's Sustainability Standards Committee
"Sustainability is a multifaceted journey—one that resembles a marathon more than a sprint. It requires resilience, innovation, and the courage to navigate complexity. I am deeply grateful to our IAB Europe Sustainability Standards Committee, a passionate and driven group that continues to embrace every challenge with enthusiasm. No task has proven too big, no solution too ambitious.
As we reflect on 2024, we celebrate the tangible progress made. From tools like CreativeLi and OpenGHG to our educational Guide to the CSRD, we have provided even more essential resources to help navigate through the challenges of the industry. Furthermore, we are proud to have played a key role in shaping the digital component of the Global Media Sustainability Framework (GMSF), marking another significant step forward. These achievements are milestones in a long-term effort and demonstrate what is possible when collaboration and determination come together.
Looking ahead to 2025, the road may become even more intricate, but I am confident in this team’s ability to face the challenges head-on. Together, we will continue to push boundaries, drive meaningful change, and make sustainability not just a goal, but a shared success."
You can explore more of this great work and valuable resources on our Sustainability Hub.
This year, we also welcomed two new working groups, expanding our knowledge and expertise across two key areas for progress:
Stay tuned for the 2025 plans in which we’re ramping up on industry education and outreach in both addressability and AI topics.
Let’s dive into policy! This year, we have maintained our focus on policy advocacy, showcasing the industry's value, actively engaging in discussions on key EU policy dossiers, and updating the industry on the new EU Commission.
Here are some of the key highlights:
As we set our sights on 2025, get ready for even more outstanding content, valuable insights, dynamic events, and exciting updates from IAB Europe.
From expanding our work in Retail Media and Sustainability to exploring new areas such as AI, programmatic advancements, and other key topics, we’re eager to collaborate with our members as we tackle the industry's most pressing and innovative challenges in the coming year.
We’re also thrilled to announce that our annual Interact conference will take place in an exciting new location—stay tuned for more details soon!
That wraps up 2024! A heartfelt thank you to all our members for engaging with our initiatives this year and helping us deliver content that continues to inspire and provoke thought.
If you’re interested in joining IAB Europe or are already a member and want to get more involved in our committees, task forces, outputs, or content, don’t hesitate to reach out at communication@iabeurope.eu.
Wishing you a joyful festive season and a well-deserved break. We’re excited to reconnect and collaborate in the new year as we drive the industry forward in 2025 and beyond.
