Observed Signal · Jul 8, 2026 · Market Report · Source: Digiday · Impact: 4/5 · Sentiment: Positive
IAB Europe: Europe's €131B Ad Market Up 10.5%
IAB Europe’s latest AdEx Benchmark Report found continental ad spend rose 10.5% year‑on‑year to €131 billion in 2025, with digital channels now accounting for roughly 70% of total spend. Video formats — from CTV to social video — account for more than half of display investment, with social video up 25% and social advertising reaching €35.5 billion (up 19.2%). Retail media grew 16.7% to €13.3 billion, largely by converting trade and shopper marketing budgets into media. Programmatic reached €15.7 billion in 2025 and is growing faster than overall display spend, driven in part by video demand and SME adoption via self-serve tools.
IAB Europe is a key industry body; the AdEx Benchmark quantifies a sizable uplift (€131B, +10.5%) and signals structural shifts (digital/video/programmatic/retail media) that affect advertisers, agencies and adtech vendors across Europe.
Track IAB Europe Signals & Market Shifts in Real-Time
Polaris7 autonomous intelligence agents track regulatory filings, primary sources, executive changes, and deal flow 24/7. Create your free Explorer workspace to monitor these entities.
Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- IAB Europe AdEx Benchmark Report: European ad spend €131 billion in 2025, up 10.5% year over year.
- Digital channels represent about 70% of total European ad spend.
- Video formats now account for more than half of all display investment; social video grew 25% in the year.
- Social advertising reached €35.5 billion, a 19.2% increase.
- Retail media grew 16.7% to €13.3 billion, largely by mediafying existing trade and shopper-marketing budgets.
- Programmatic market hit €15.7 billion in 2025 and grew nearly twice as fast as overall display; video comprises the larger, faster-growing half of programmatic spend.
Connected Companies & Entities
4 Entities mapped“This time it’s IAB Europe’s latest AdEx Benchmark Report, which clocked continental ad spend up 10.5% year over year to €131 billion — rough...”
“Despite the platforms themselves being anything but new — Meta, TikTok and Snap are all comfortably mature businesses at this point — Knapp ...”
“Despite the platforms themselves being anything but new — Meta, TikTok and Snap are all comfortably mature businesses at this point — Knapp ...”
“Despite the platforms themselves being anything but new — Meta, TikTok and Snap are all comfortably mature businesses at this point — Knapp ...”
Related Market Signals & Shifts
Recent verified developments and strategic activity across this market segment.
IAB Europe: Video Now Half of Display Spend
IAB Europe’s AdEx Benchmark Report 2025 shows European digital ad spend rose 10.5% to €131.1 billion across Europe. Video was the main driver: digital video spend climbed 19.6% to €34.0 billion, now accounting for more than half of display investment and just over a quarter of total digital spend. Social video led video growth (up 25.7%), while social advertising overall reached €35.5 billion (+19.2%). Retail media grew 16.7% to €13.3 billion, surpassing a 10% share of the market. Established channels such as display, paid search and classifieds continued to expand at lower rates. The report also highlights growing use of AI for creative efficiency and optimization and notes convergence between commerce and content, with measurability expected to steer future budget allocation.
Google launches unified agentic AI for Gemini
At a Google Cloud event on Thursday, Google announced it is bringing agentic AI to its Gemini assistant, launching a unified agent that can autonomously plan and execute tasks on behalf of users. Aimed initially at businesses, the agent can connect to internal systems and external tools, use custom skills, and even choose from third-party models like Anthropic's Claude. It will have its own Workspace account with an email address, and will write its own audit trail. Early testers include On, Shopify, and PayPal. Gemini has over 1 billion monthly active users, and nearly 90% of Fortune 100 companies use Gemini Enterprise.
Getting Fired, Risk and Ambition at Changemakers
The Marketing Society's Changemakers conference explored career resilience, ambition, and failure. Speakers included Laura Brown, former InStyle EIC, who discussed her layoff and the importance of personal equity separate from job titles. Sofia Hernandez, ex-TikTok executive, talked about leaving a high-powered role for health reasons and the evaporation of corporate status. Wendy Kula, now CMO of Saucony, took a year off after Nike restructure to combat burnout. Maryam Banikarim, former Hyatt CMO, stepped away at 50 to prioritize family. Sam Tomlinson, CEO of MediaSense, advocated for a 'learn fast' culture and criticized corporate risk elimination over risk management. The event focused on defining success beyond big titles and embracing failure as a growth path.
Track Real-Time Market Signals & Shifts
Set up custom watchlists to receive automated, evidence-grounded executive digests whenever material signals or shifts occur across your tracked landscape.