Ad Net Zero

IQ Digital adds CO2 emissions to campaign reporting

IQ Digital will include CO2-emissions data in its customer campaign reporting, showing grams of CO2 per impression at position level. Emissions calculations are performed by Texas-based measurement provider Cedara, using IQ Digital primary data and the Global Media Sustainability Framework (GMSF) from Ad Net Zero to standardize results. IQ Digital reports an average total intensity of 0.03 grams CO2 per impression versus a cited market average of 0.56 grams. The company intends the metric as an additional steering KPI to help advertisers assess and reduce media-related emissions, and will provide contextual comparison values in reports. IQ Digital is a Düsseldorf-based media sales house and joint venture of several major German publishers, with a claimed reach of 32.9 million digital unique users.

Sustainability Retreats in AdTech as Agentic AI Rises

An ExchangeWire column by Paul Evans argues that sustainability has been deprioritized across ad tech as the sector pivots toward agentic AI and related infrastructure. The piece highlights the sale of Adloox by Scope3 to Peer39, observations from Cannes where major firms showcased agent-to-agent advertising, and survey data showing declines in ESG disclosure and sustainable creative. It also notes rising industry emissions — citing Amazon's 2025 greenhouse gas increase — and warns that building agentic AI capabilities may increase the sector's carbon footprint even as sustainability frameworks and toolkits (e.g., Ad Net Zero v1.3) continue to be developed.

DOOH Delivers More Impact With Less Waste

The article argues that sustainability in media buying must move beyond just measuring CO₂ to assessing the social and reputational value of media (termed Value Media). Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) is highlighted as a strong candidate for ESG-aligned media planning because of a comparatively low lifecycle carbon footprint and its ability to reach mass audiences outside filter bubbles. Ad Net Zero presented version 1.3 of the Global Media Sustainability Framework (GMSF) at Cannes Lions 2026, backed by an alliance coordinated by Ad Net Zero and initiated with the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) and supported by major agency holdings, Google, Meta, Unilever and L’Oréal. The piece also references planning tools such as the Public & Private Screens study and academic-industry work by IU International University and the BVDW with the Research Center for Sustainable Media & Marketing to develop measurable Value Media metrics.