Don’t expect more of the same in 2025 - expect even more

Every December I look back at the last 12 months to sum up and celebrate the landmark moments of the year for IAB UK and our members. I sift through the projects, the presentations, the podcasts and the parliamentary wins to bring you my edit of what went down. There will be some of that this year because it’s important to take stock and recognise what we have achieved together. However, I also want to look ahead and give you a taste of what’s to come from IAB UK in 2025. What will we be doing differently? What can you expect more of? And what am I most looking forward to? It’s all here. 

But first, 2024

It’s been a year in which Team GB won 189 Olympic and Paralympic medals, 1.2 million UK Swifties sang along to Taylor live, one new Prime Minister took up residence at No.10, countless people over the age of 40 were bemused by brat (me included), and thousands of Wicked memes brought defying gravity to our social feeds.

Over at the IAB, the past 12 months have heralded plenty of change. Engage moved to a new venue with a new focus - to help advertisers rediscover the joy of digital - and our Chief Digital Cheerleader, Joy, enjoyed the limelight.

Speaking of Joy, she gave the winner of GBBO a run for her money by donning an apron and encouraging the industry to bake in the essentials of marketing when digital feels like an overwhelmingly complex recipe. Take a look at 2024’s Joy of Digital Award winners for heaps of inspiration from advertisers who are embracing the creative potential of online channels.  

Shifting gears somewhat, the Government-led Online Advertising Taskforce - which IAB UK sits on to represent our members - established a renewed focus on industry-led action rather than legislation. On the day I’m writing this, Chris Bryant MP announced that the Taskforce has been extended for a further 12 months, which is great news for our industry - providing a valuable way for us to work with the Government to build a better future for digital advertising for the benefit of everyone. 

Overall, 2024 has seen some brilliant progress when it comes to our policy work - such as successfully representing our publisher members to the ICO and seeing centralised cookie consent dropped from the Data Bill as a direct result of our lobbying efforts. We’ve met with over 50 key political decision makers; seen 11 Parliamentarians back our pledges supporting smart regulation of an ad-funded internet; and we have hosted three significant parliamentary events engaging MPs, parliamentary researchers and members of the House of Lords. 

When it comes to you - our members - we have worked hand-in-hand to take our work on fast emerging channels to a new level, bringing your expertise to the fore and advancing our collective understanding across the board. This included hosting AR and Connected TV specialist roundtables; developing a guide to creator marketing; adding digital out-of-home into IAB Compass; and bringing channel-specific Digital Upfronts back with plenty of new insight - such as showing that the UK retail media market is on track to exceed £1bn in 2025. 

Meanwhile, Google’s removal of the cookie deadline put paid to the ‘cookie-pocalypse’ and our ad tech team hosted a series of events and working groups to help the industry continue to adjust to a low-cookie landscape, with privacy enhancing technologies, Marketing Mix Modelling, clean rooms and Privacy Sandbox all on the agenda. 

When it comes to how you can engage with us, there were changes too. The IAB UK Podcast moved into video with a triptych of mini-series specials from TikTok, Tesco Media & Insight and YouTube, alongside our usual audio episodes. And last but never least, our AI assistant NORI was introduced to the IAB website (find it via the speech bubble in the bottom right-hand corner) - providing you with a catch-all oracle for digital queries. I very much enjoyed trying to outsmart it during the beta phase. 

What’s to come

It’s easy to get to the end of the year, look back and think “Great. Nailed it. Let’s just do that again”. But at the IAB we’re determined to keep evolving to ensure that we’re tackling vital challenges, showing what great advertising can do, and looking ahead to help you effectively prepare for the future. 

That means you shouldn’t just expect more of the same from us in 2025 - expect even more. More actionable insight, more tailored and informative communications, and more engaging opportunities for you to platform your expertise. Without giving too much away, here’s a preview of some of what’s to come: 

• Futurescape: An ambitious, comprehensive and ongoing insight project into what marketing will look like in 2030 and beyond - helping your business to prepare and thrive. Think expert insights, think game-changing data, think a future-facing barometer of spend to complement Digital Adspend. It’s going to have it all 
• The Gold Standard: The evolution of the Gold Standard will ensure it stays at the forefront of innovation and a useful tool for both IAB members and advertisers, while remaining workable and effective
• IAB Communities: We’ve recently launched IAB Communities to reshape how we work with you and they will really get underway in 2025. Essentially, IAB Communities have been designed to help you embrace growth, enhance your network and elevate your voice. Get involved! 

These new additions will be underpinned by some vital continuity. We will continue to prioritise our policy work and public affairs engagement, making sure that we represent your interests to the Government and that you’re kept up-to-date. With the ‘HFSS ad ban’ coming into force on 1 October 2025, bringing you clarity about what you should be doing to prepare for it will remain paramount. 

We will continue to celebrate digital advertising in all of its forms, with a certain bear at the helm to help advertisers rediscover the joy of digital. You can expect to see more of Joy in 2025 as she ramps up her efforts to put digital at the heart of brilliant brand building. 

We will continue to make our voice heard on the industry stage when it comes to issues that impact you - whether that’s championing self-regulation or calling for collaboration on important issues like brand safety.  

And, within everything that we do, we will continue to push for progress when it comes to environmental sustainability and inclusion. Our purpose at the IAB is to build a better future for digital advertising for the benefit of everyone. That means doubling down on sustainability efforts and it also means ensuring that we’re celebrating, platforming and supporting the full breadth of talent in our industry, including those who are often under-represented. We’ve made some good progress, but we need to go further. 

Finally - and having fully smashed my strict word count - it just remains for me to say a massive thank you to all of you, our members, for your support, input and partnership. None of what we do is possible without you. From everyone at the IAB, have a brilliant Christmas and New Year - we look forward to working with you in 2025!