Dear IAB Community,
The IAB US CY25 Internet Advertising Revenue Report has just been released, showing market growth of 13.9% over 2024, compared to the Australian digital market at 11.5%. There are many similar trends to Australia, with strong growth in video and social media, and continued double-digit growth in search. IAB Australia members can download local ad spend reports, with the March quarter report due mid-May.
The latest Affiliate and Partnership Marketing State of the Nation report shows brands and agencies are increasingly using affiliate and partnership activity to drive sales. What AI means for this sector remains a key focus, with strong demand for education and guidance from IAB. The report was launched at a sold-out Sydney event this week, and the photo gallery is now available. The Melbourne Affiliate Summit is on in June, so register now to secure your place.
Video advertising continues to expand across environments, formats and investment. Staying up to date at the Video Summit on 6 May in Sydney is a must. This is the key event for digital video across the ecosystem, with two free tickets for IAB members, agencies and brands. One session I’m particularly looking forward to brings together buyers, sellers and tech to explore how the industry is simplifying and improving efficiency, with speakers from Audience Group, FreeWheel, News Australia, Nine and Zenith.
Agentic advertising is moving quickly from theory to infrastructure, and IAB is at the centre of making it usable, trusted and commercially viable. In an article for ExchangeWire, our Tech Lead, Jonas Jaanimagi outlines how initiatives like AAMP and the Agent Registry build on existing standards to enable interoperability, transparency and scale in an AI-driven market . This is a moment for the industry to engage with how these frameworks are applied, with IAB’s standards, working groups and global collaboration shaping how agentic advertising will operate in practice.
IAB member Kargo has also published an Earth Day piece, As AI Grows So Do Sustainability Concerns. As AI adoption accelerates and higher global temperatures become the baseline, sustainability is shifting from a nice-to-have to a commercial expectation, with advertisers needing to balance AI-driven growth with credible, measurable climate action.
More resources and industry job opportunities below.
‘Til next week
Gai