Digital adspend in the UK has surpassed the £40 billion mark for the first time according to industry body IAB UK.
Video and retail media were among the most prominent gainers, and we’ve been garnering reactions from leaders in the adtech and advertising world…
Dennis Kirschner, CMO & co-Founder, ShowHeroes
“It wasn’t surprising to learn that CTV was the main driver of video-related growth in the IAB UK study. A big part of that success is due to the exciting new opportunities emerging in Open CTV, which includes FAST channels and AVOD vendors.
“ShowHeroes’ research shows that consumer sentiment toward Open CTV is increasingly positive, as more audiences shift away from subscription-based streaming platforms toward frictionless viewing experiences.
“This shift is generating a wealth of valuable inventory for brands, allowing them to reach large target groups often missed by major platforms across a diverse landscape of premium streaming and live content.”
James Taylor, CEO & Founder, Particular Audience
“The UK digital ad market surpassing £40.4bn in 2025 is a phenomenal milestone that demonstrates the resilience and adaptability of our industry.
“However, what stands out most from the IAB UK’s latest figures is the staggering rise of Retail Media, which surged by 17% year-on-year to deliver £3.7bn.
“Retail is now the number one driver of digital ad spend via agencies. We are seeing a fundamental shift where retailers are no longer just points of sale; they are becoming highly sophisticated, full-funnel media ecosystems.
“In an era where economic pressures are intensifying ROI demands and CFOs are heavily scrutinising marketing spend, retail media provides a distinct competitive advantage through its reliance on first-party data, access to real-time intent signals and closed-loop attribution.
“Looking ahead, AI and automation are rightfully identified as the primary forces that will shape the sector. But as the report highlights, this rapid expansion has led to fragmented measurement and complex ecosystems that risk slowing down scale.
“This is exactly where Particular Audience steps in. We are driving the supply side automation required to manage this fragmentation and facilitate continued growth.
“By unifying predictive AI with retailer first-party data, we help brands and retailers cut through the complexity to deliver scalable, highly relevant consumer experiences.
“The £40bn milestone is just the beginning of this more accountable, automated, and data-driven era of advertising.”
Adam Cherry, Digital Development Director, Posterscope
“The 11% growth in Digital Out of Home (DOOH) to £1.1bn in 2025 is a strong signal of sustained momentum for the medium. In a difficult economy, advertisers continued to invest in DOOH because it delivers scale and visibility in trusted environments.
“This growth reflects a maturing medium. Programmatic capabilities, ever more sophisticated dynamic capabilities, improved measurement and smarter audience planning are all making DOOH easier to buy and optimise.
“With 57% of advertisers expecting digital budgets to rise in 2026, the outlook is positive.
“As brands look for accountable, high-impact channels that complement and amplify other media, DOOH is well positioned to capture a greater share of that growth next year.”
Sonny McLean, Commercial Director, Fan Club
“A 20% rise in video spend in 2025, driven largely by social video, shows where brands are placing their bets. Audiences are spending more time watching short-form and platform-led content, and advertisers are following.
“But this isn’t just about shifting the budget from one channel to another though. It’s about recognising that social video is where attention lives. Brands building content series and repeatable formats are the ones that are creating real audience value and engagement.
“With digital budgets expected to grow again in 2026, video will remain a priority.
“The opportunity for brands is to think beyond campaigns and focus on creating content people will actively choose to watch.”
Sam Bradshaw, Head of Media, AgencyUK
“Record digital investment is a sign of confidence, but it also signals rising competition. More money in the system increases auction pressure and makes attention harder to earn.
“As digital channels become more crowded, capturing existing demand inevitably becomes more expensive.
“In this environment, optimisation alone is not a growth strategy. Sustainable growth comes from building mental availability at scale, designing coherent media plans and measuring commercial impact alongside platform metrics.
“Greater competition also reinforces the value of creativity.
“As the strongest profit multiplier marketers can influence, brands that integrate strong creative and effective media planning from the outset will see the real return.”
Sarah Rose, COO, Fifty
“The latest digital ad spend figures from IAB UK underline the continued strength and momentum of the UK’s digital advertising market.
“Double-digit growth is a clear demonstration of the sector’s durability and its central role in driving business growth, even amid ongoing economic and regulatory complexity.
“It is encouraging to see sustained investment across the market, reflecting advertisers’ confidence in digital’s ability to deliver measurable impact. Increasingly, that confidence is being fuelled by advances in AI and automation.
“These technologies are not just improving efficiency, they are levelling the playing field. Brands of every size now have access to sophisticated, audience-led planning and activation tools that were once the preserve of only the largest organisations.
“The result is more intelligent orchestration across channels, sharper targeting, faster optimisation and ultimately stronger commercial outcomes.
“Looking ahead, the growth forecasts for next year point to continued optimism. Major cultural and sporting moments, including the upcoming World Cup, have historically acted as powerful accelerators for investment and engagement.
“Combined with the rapid evolution of AI-enabled capabilities, these tailwinds create a compelling foundation for sustained expansion and innovation across the UK advertising landscape.”
Edward Bristow, VP Business Development EMEA, Adlook
“The latest IAB UK Adspend report proves that brands are doubling down on digital resilience as ad spend continues to outpace GDP, and is a clear sign that advertisers see digital as their primary channel for growth.
“But as these budgets scale, walled gardens are increasingly coming under the spotlight amid rising pressure around brand safety and well-publicised legal challenges.
“This is where independent DSPs come into their own, by offering the programmatic agility and unbiased transparency that advertisers need to feel confident their campaigns will sit alongside quality journalism and trusted publishers.
“This need for transparency is equally vital in the video and TV space, which saw a 20% spike to £9.3bn. In this rapidly converging but fragmented landscape, programmatic AI is now a must-have for brands looking to reach premium audiences across screens without wasting spend.
“Search will be one to watch. While budgets remain robust for now, we may see spend invested elsewhere as AI increasingly handles consumer discovery, and especially as OpenAI rolls out its ad-supported model.
“Ultimately, as the UK market matures, the brands that thrive will be those that balance trusted environments with precise, AI-driven execution.”
David Nelson, co-Founder, Limelight
“Clearly there was turbulence generally in 2025, and that continues – both in economic and geopolitical terms and in the challenges faced by the ad market, which include signal loss, ID volatility, supply-path bloat and the uncertain impact of AI.
“But the fact that the UK digital ad market still grew by almost 10%, with programmatic accounting for 80%, tells you a lot about the market’s resilience and its appetite for new approaches.
“Obviously we are all seeing a lot of movement of budget from older static channels into newer ones such as CTV and VOD, but at an infrastructure level the appetite for bespoke, white-label solutions has only grown, and the imperative remain the same: to focus on clean, authenticated supply paths and curated demand.”