Join an IAB UK Community: a guide to what’s on offer  

IAB Communities are open for all IAB UK members to join - giving you influence, equipping you with essential insights to enhance your work, and helping you to forge new connections.  

Community members can expect two core IRL meetings a year*, which we will supplement with more action-orientated taskforce sessions for specific projects, tailored email updates, optional networking sessions and LinkedIn group discussions. You can read more about how IAB Communities work and what to expect here.  

So, what’s on offer? Here’s a breakdown of all the IAB Communities we run and who to contact if you’re interested in joining.  

Ad Ops 

The IAB Ad Ops Community is a hub for Ad Operations professionals to connect, learn, and shape the future of ad tech. Focus areas include best practices, emerging technologies like AI and programmatic, and troubleshooting challenges such as ad fraud and attribution gaps. Gain career insights from industry veterans and explore new paths in ad ops. 
 
Get in touch at [email protected] 

Audio   

Whether you’re a podcast pro or streaming success, the IAB Audio Community is on the pulse of digital audio developments. It aims to develop the growth of the channel by showcasing proven efficacy and bringing clarity to buying and measurement best practices. Find out more about digital audio here. 

The Audio Community is led by Amelia Lloyd. Get in touch at [email protected]  

Creator Marketing 

With creator marketing opening up a highly creative and highly shoppable avenue for advertisers to leverage, this Community is all about establishing creator campaigns as a fundamental part of the media mix by championing its effectiveness and educating the industry about what it can offer. Find out more about creator marketing here. 

The Creator Marketing Community is led by Amelia Lloyd. Get in touch at [email protected]  

Connected TV  

TV has long been a mainstay on media plans, but as linear audiences decline the channel is undergoing a digital evolution. The Connected TV Community brings together players in this space to establish standardisation in the space, educate about best practice, and host valuable discussions about how to develop the industry. Find out more about CTV here. 

The Connected TV Community is led by Ryan Savage. Get in touch at [email protected]  

Digital Out-of-Home  

DOOH offers advertisers a unique and highly impactful outlet - this Community focuses on promoting the capabilities of programmatic DOOH and the role of outdoor in an effective omnichannel mix. Find out more about DOOH here. 

The Digital Out-of-Home Community is led by Amelia Lloyd. Get in touch at [email protected]  

Environmental Sustainability 

The aim of this Community is to help IAB UK members understand how they can best reduce their carbon emissions and fulfil their environmental commitments in the digital media supply chain. Members collaborate to produce best practice guidance, share the work they have done in this space, learn about relevant initiatives and work to create standardisation in a fast-developing ecosystem. The group is open to all IAB UK members and ideal for team members who take an active role in determining and influencing their company’s climate strategy. Find out more about our Sustainability work here. 

The Environmental Sustainability Community is led by Sophia Haynes. Get in touch at [email protected]  

Gaming   

With Gaming on track to hit £1.84bn by 2026, according to IAB Compass, our Gaming Community is focused on showcasing the creative opportunities for advertisers in the in-game space and demonstrating how advertisers can integrate gaming into their media plans. Find out more about gaming here. 

The Gaming Community is led by Ryan Savage. Get in touch at [email protected]  

Gold Standard 

The purpose of the Gold Standard Community is to help steer the development of the IAB Gold Standard via a process of consulting, advising and making recommendations. Its focus will span all areas of the Gold Standard including brand safety, user experience, ad fraud and data, and privacy. Members feed into the evolution of the Gold Standard - to join the Gold Standard Community, it is necessary to be registered or to be certified. Find out more about the Gold Standard here.  

Get in touch at [email protected]  

Inclusion, Diversity & Equity   

The aim of the I,D & E Community is to work towards building a digital advertising industry that is for everybody by making diversity and inclusion a priority across the sector, starting with work culture. Members share the work they have done in this space, collaborate to produce useful best practice guides and learn about relevant initiatives.

This group is for anyone who has an active role in implementing inclusion, diversity and equity plans within their business and can contribute to the conversation to share learnings. Find out more about our Inclusion, Diversity & Equity work here. 

This I,D & E Community is led by Sophia Haynes. Get in touch at [email protected]  

Insight  

The Insight Community provides a forum for members to gain an in-depth understanding of IAB research initiatives, advise on projects where appropriate, and discuss challenges with a like-minded audience. Explore our Insight here.  

Get in touch at [email protected]  

In the North  

The Northern Community is for IAB UK members who work in the North - with initiatives and events focused on the thriving and diverse industry that is driving the digital ad market in Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Newcastle and beyond.  

The Northern Community is led by Ryan Savage. Get in touch at [email protected]  

Publisher 

The Publisher Community brings our publisher members together to demonstrate the benefits of working directly with premium publishers - focusing on areas such as brand suitability, audience targeting, and sustainability. The focsu of this Community is also to support publishers when it comes to how to best take advantage of advances in technology. 

The Publisher Community is run by Connie Hawker. Please note: this Community is exclusively for our publisher members, including news brands, magazines and online publishers. Get in touch at [email protected]  

Regulatory Affairs & Public Policy 

IAB UK’s Regulatory Affairs and Public Policy Community works to promote a policy environment that will help to build a better future for digital advertising, for the benefit of everyone.  Areas covered include industry self-regulation, the Online Advertising Taskforce, data protection and HFSS. Find out more about our work at https://www.iabuk.com/policy.   

 This Community is led by our Policy and Regulatory Affairs team and is open to all IAB members. We recommend that a representative from all member companies joins it to stay up to date with the latest developments. For more information, contact [email protected]  

Retail Media 

According to our latest forecasts, the UK’s retail media industry is set to exceed £1bn in ad spend in 2025 (excluding Amazon), making this Community’s work pivotal in shaping a flourishing sector. Members come together to shine a spotlight on and educate the market about the unique opportunities in this space. Find out more about Retail Media here. 

The Retail Media Community is led by Connie Hawker. Get in touch at [email protected]  

Search   

As Digital Adspend shows, Search continues to attract the largest share of digital ad spend. This Community is focused on maintaining investment in search and continuing to embrace the latest innovations within search marketing.  

This Community is led by Connie Hawker. Get in touch at [email protected]  

Social   

The Social Community’s role is to encourage investment in paid social, providing education and evidence to promote its benefits and effectiveness throughout the funnel.  

This group is led by Amelia Lloyd. Get in touch at [email protected]  
 

*The I,D,E, Policy & Regulatory Affairs, and Sustainability Communities will continue with their current meeting frequency