Despite numerous economic and geopolitical headwinds, UK ad spend continued to rise resilient in the third quarter of last year and is forecast to surpass £50bn for the first time in 2026, according to the latest AA/WARC Expenditure Report reading.
Encouraging signs of a robust corner of the UK economy, but we asked industry leaders from across the advertising and marketing world for reaction to the latest report …
Ian Henderson, CEO, AML
“Q3’s 11.4% uplift in UK ad spend points to a market that is choosing to invest through uncertainty rather than wait it out.
“What stands out in this report is not just the scale of growth, but the confidence it suggests among advertisers who continue to prioritise momentum.
“For AML’s core sectors, particularly finance, legal and technology, this aligns with what we are seeing on the ground. Many organisations are operating in buoyant global markets, pushing into new territories and accelerating demand generation, often under tight time pressures.
“Research by JFDI and others shows many clients are choosing smaller, more agile specialist agencies like AML as their partners. They cite speed to market, precision of response from experienced senior input and more entrepreneurial, commercially-aware impact as reasons to choose.
“While macro volatility remains a real risk, the intent to grow is clearly driving decision-making.”
Suzanna Chaplin, CEO & Founder, esbconnect
“The headline growth is encouraging, but what stands out is that 80% of spend is going into search, social, and display.
“Brands are doubling down on channels that increasingly compete for the same shrinking and over-targeted audiences.
“The opportunity in 2026 isn’t simply spending more; it’s spending smarter. Stop being a sheep and spending only where feels safest. Meta feels obvious, but would Reddit have felt obvious 12 months ago?
“Flip your budget to the 29% – that’s the opportunity with less noise. Focus on building first-party relationships, identifying real people rather than anonymous impressions, and looking for channels that are not fashionable but staples.
“As costs continue to rise and regulation tightens, the brands that win will be those that invest in durable identity and data, and go to where there are quality audiences and less noise.”
James Taylor, CEO and Founder, Particular Audience
“The real story here is not how much is being spent, but where it’s being spent. Search and online display are both showing sustained, double-digit growth, and now account for 83% of total spend, stealing ground from legacy formats such as magazine brands.
“What’s also clear is that retailers are emerging as the focal point of the media economy and this is where the battle lines are being drawn.
“The brands who will win out on the retail media battlefield will be those who tie ad spend to purchase intent, backed by deep personalisation, to target people with things they actually want to buy.”
Sarah Lawson Johnston, MD EMEA, Vudoo
“The AA/WARC forecast paints a picture of resilience. UK ad spend is set to surpass £50bn, signalling a continued vote of confidence from brands in the power of advertising, even against a challenging economic backdrop.
“It’s a shared understanding that staying visible, relevant and trusted has never mattered more.
“In a landscape of endless choices defined by limited budgets, meeting consumers in the environments they already trust, and making it easy to turn inspiration into action will be key for growth. Reach alone is no longer enough.
“Effective, consistent brand-building needs formats that can link storytelling with pathways to purchase, delivering emotional connection with measurable results.”
Barney Worfolk-Smith, Chief Growth Officer, DAIVID
“There are three major talking points here. First, the figures are up and we should be encouraged that despite the current doom and gloom lingering around the industry, advertiser confidence remains. Things are not all bad.
“Next, a notable winner here is search. These figures are for 4-7 months ago and it’ll be interesting to watch the search investments in future reports as the AI ‘Zero Click’ challenge manifests more prominently.
“Finally, pertinent to our experience at DAIVID, we’re seeing that clients are pushing hard to close the measurement gap in their advertising.
“This growth and continued growth in UK adspend is going to need every possible lever pulled to eradicate waste and focus on performance.”
Tim Sapsford, MD, Posterscope
“We are encouraged to see out of home have another positive quarter reported, with digital OOH in particular showing steady growth.
“Strong summer audiences and major cultural and sporting moments play into OOH’s unique ability to reach people in shared, real‑world environments.
“With another busy summer of sport and events ahead, the outlook is promising for OOH, still one of the most trusted, high‑impact channels for delivering reach and attention in an evermore fragmented media landscape.”
Sarah Rose, COO at Fifty
“The latest UK Ad Spend figures from the AA/WARC are a positive signal for the industry and reinforce the resilience of the UK advertising market. Five consecutive years of growth is no small achievement, particularly against a backdrop of economic and geopolitical uncertainty.
“It is unsurprising to see digital continuing to drive much of the market’s growth. Innovative applications of AI are giving brands of all sizes a more democratised ability to plan and execute sophisticated, audience-first omnichannel strategies.
“By connecting channels more intelligently, advertisers can deliver better returns, faster, with greater confidence. Looking ahead, the outlook for 2026 is especially encouraging.
“Live sport continues to prove its power to drive cross-channel media investment and engagement, as we saw first hand with the success of partners like England’s Red Roses.
“With the FIFA World Cup on the horizon, these moments create a catalyst for brand spend across all channels. Together, these dynamics should provide further momentum and optimism for the market in the years ahead.”
Matt Durham, VP, Global Engagement Strategy, CMI Media Group
“The continued growth in UK advertising spend is encouraging, particularly the resilience across digital channels. Especially against a challenging economic environment.
“For healthcare and pharmaceutical brands, this reinforces the importance of continuing to invest in high-quality, compliant tactics that can deliver both reach and trust.
“Continued advertising investment helps ensure that doctors and other healthcare professionals will remain informed with relevant, accurate information that ultimately enables better conversations and outcomes for their patients.”
Amy Budd, Client Services Director, Launch
“We’re seeing ad spend rise again for 2026, which is not surprising. But the smartest brands aren’t just adding budget they’re broadening their presence across the full ecosystem of consumer touchpoints.
“Investing in sustainable growth and pushing their acquisition costs down through a combination of brand building and conversion focused campaigns.
“We are living in a low attention, noisy world, but the brands that build familiarity will win in unpredictable times.”
Matthew Chappell, Global Client Success Officer Gain Theory
“Double digit growth in a mature advertising market like the UK always raises eyebrows, but it shouldn’t. Every time we analyse what drives a company’s growth, advertising proves itself to be a significant force over the short and long term.
“Our recent research revealed that on average companies spend 3% of their revenue on advertising, but advertising accounts for 9% of their revenue.
“The more companies measure and optimise their advertising, the more they will put their trust in its ability to deliver business growth.
“Of course, having huge events like the Women’s Euros in Q3 won’t hurt either!”
Sarah Lewis, Global Vice President, CTV ShowHeroes Group
“The latest AA/WARC figures underline what we’re seeing across the market: video, and particularly Connected TV, is becoming a central growth driver for advertising investment.
“The 17% rise in VOD in Q3 reflects a structural shift toward streaming-first consumption, especially around major live events.
Increasingly, sports and cultural moments are being experienced through ad-supported streaming environments rather than traditional broadcast alone.
“This creates a powerful opportunity for advertisers to reach large, highly engaged audiences on the biggest screen in the home, while also benefiting from digital-style flexibility and measurement.
“As spend continues to grow in 2026, the challenge will be balancing scale with trust. Contextual, privacy-first approaches and high-impact CTV formats allow brands to combine the reach and impact traditionally associated with TV with the performance accountability marketers now expect.”
Owen Hancock, RVP, Marketing – EMEA, impact.com
“In a world where digital ad spend is set to hurdle the £50bn mark for the first time, it’s easy to get swept up in the sheer momentum of the numbers.
“The latest WARC findings paint a picture of an industry showing remarkable resilience, yet behind that headline growth of 11.4% lies a critical tension.
“While search and online display still command the lion’s share of the pie, we’re seeing a profound shift in where the real value is being created. It’s no longer just about being the loudest voice in a crowded room; it’s about finding the most trusted voice in the feed.
“As traditional channels grapple with rising costs and the quiet encroachment of AI search, the brands that are truly outpacing the competition are those leaning into the power of authentic, human-led partnerships.
“The data tells us that consumers are no longer passive recipients of advertising; they are active researchers who prize community and social proof above all else.
“With 89% of people trusting personal recommendations over any other channel, the flywheel of advocacy has become the most potent engine for growth we have.
“The spike in investment in culturally-relevant moments, from the euphoria of major sporting events to the intimacy of creator-led content, proves that commerce is now fundamentally about connection.
At impact.com, we believe the future isn’t about more ads; it’s about more trust. It’s time we stopped merely buying reach and started building relationships that scale, turning that £50bn of spend into a measurable, performance-powered ecosystem of genuine human influence.”
Luke Boudour, Chief Experience Officer, GOA
“The continued growth of Search and Online Display spend in challenging trading conditions demonstrates the heavy reliance advertisers have on trackable costs and revenue to deliver ROI.
“While I expect this trend to continue into 2026, it could slow if confidence in measurement declines.
“As platforms increasingly mask data, reduce control levers, and shift toward predictive measurement models, reporting discrepancies are creating doubt regarding channel effectiveness.
“With the inevitable move toward further automation, the need for independent oversight will grow to ensure ongoing confidence in these growing investments.”
Csaba Szabo, Managing Director EMEA, Integral Ad Science
“The AA/WARC report highlights the uplift major sporting events had on consumer engagement and digital advertising in Q3 2025, and this learning will be essential as we head into 2026’s busy calendar.
“The 2026 FIFA World Cup and the 2026 Winter Olympics, among others, will create powerful opportunities for brands to connect with highly-engaged audiences.
“However, history shows that when global attention peaks, so does the risk around ad fraud and brand suitability. During the Winter Olympics 2022, a seven-day rolling ad fraud rate nearly doubled the global Q1 2022 ad fraud benchmark – this near 100% increase in fraudulent activity showcases the importance of awareness around these major calendar milestones.
“The key for advertisers will be leaning into these high-impact moments by utilising the right tools to both protect investment and brand equity by optimising for premium inventory and contextually suitable environments, strengthening fraud prevention and suitability controls, and turning media quality metrics into an engine for growth for their campaigns.”
James Macdonald, co-Founder & Chief Revenue Officer, Limelight
“The Q3 results highlight how both AI and programmatic are increasingly shaping the industry’s growth, particularly across search, VOD and online display, but neither works in isolation.
“AI is proving most valuable as a driver of efficiency that enhances human-led strategy, while programmatic continues to sit at the centre of media planning through flexible, white-label solutions that lower barriers to entry and enable scale.
“Together, they allow teams to focus less on the tools themselves and more on delivering performance and outcomes, which is ultimately where the industry’s attention is heading.”
David Mandeno, COO & co-Founder, Revving
“An 11.4% year-on-year increase in UK ad spend looks pretty healthy, but it’s important to remember that these numbers relate to Q3.
“If we do the maths and subtract the Q1, 2, and 3 revenues from the full-year 2025 forecast of £46.9bn, that means ad spend in Q4, the so-called golden quarter, is predicted to be lower than Q3 at £11.6bn, which doesn’t offer much comfort for those on the ad tech coalface.
“It’s a reflection of many things, including geopolitical tensions, an uncertain economic outlook, and the general malaise around the digital economy’s broken payments system, which leaves many companies that advertisers rely on most facing a never-ending cash flow crisis.”