NEW YORK—A resurgence in live events and sports programming on streaming platforms, coupled with the expansion of self-serve and programmatic ad tools, helped CTV rebound with 16% year-over-year (YoY) growth in 2024, according to new data released by IAB.

The IAB’s “2025 Digital Video Ad Spend & Strategy Report: Part One,” also projects that digital video advertising is set to capture 58% of the TV/video ad spend in 2025 as it grows to $72 billion and that CTV advertising will hit $26.6 billion in 2025.

Linear TV's share will fall to 42%, down from a 48% share in 2024, which was the first year when digital video advertising surpassed linear TV.

“2024 was a pivotal year for digital video advertising. With high-quality content moving to streaming, advancements in advertising technology, and an influx of new inventory accelerated growth for both consumers and advertisers,” said David Cohen, CEO, IAB. “CTV is making it clear it’s a go-to channel for both viewers and advertisers and is expected to continue growing along with social video and online video.”

Now in its twelfth year, the report, developed in partnership with Advertiser Perceptions and Guideline, provides a comprehensive snapshot of the U.S. digital video marketplace across CTV, social video, and online video, surfacing how and where ad dollars are flowing and why.

This year’s findings underscore a clear shift in momentum as digital video is expected to capture 58% of total TV/video ad spend in 2025, double its share from just five years ago. This growth builds on a major turning point in 2024, when it surpassed linear TV for the first time. Digital video ad spend rose 18% in 2024 to $64 billion and is projected to grow another 14% in 2025, reaching $72 billion—two to three times faster than total media overall, the IAB reported.

“The video industry continues its transformative shift towards streaming driven by content, creators, technology, and improved measurement. However, it is important to acknowledge that ongoing economic uncertainty, including tariffs, geopolitical conflicts, and changing consumer confidence, the marketplace in 2025 is more difficult to predict than ever before,” added Cohen.

All three types of digital video, CTV, social video, and online video, are driving the overall channel’s trajectory, with each posting double-digit growth.

The report found that CTV advertising grew from $20.3 billion in 2023 to $23.6 billion in 2024, a 16% growth rate. The study is projecting that CTV advertising will hit $26.6 billion in 2025.

Social video advertising increased from $19.5 billion in 2023 to $23.7 billion, a 21% pop, and is projected to hit $27.2 billion in 2025, the study found.

Online Video increased by 17% from $14.2 billion in 2023 to $16.6 billion in 2024 and is projected to hit $18.6 billion in 2025.

“CTV and social video are core pillars of a brand’s comprehensive and integrated media strategy,” said Chris Bruderle, vice president of industry insights & content strategy, IAB. “Consumer attention has already moved to these platforms, and advertisers are meeting them there - not just for the scale, but for the ability to precisely target, measure performance across devices, and drive real business outcomes. These channels are now foundational to any effective media strategy.”

The IAB study also found that more categories are ramping up their digital video ad spend to connect with consumers where they watch content the most. In 2025, most major categories are set to increase digital video ad budgets by double-digits with CPG (13%), retail (18%), and pharma (19%) leading the way. These categories are capitalizing on advanced targeting, including AI-driven personalization, real-time insights, and shoppable ad formats to drive deeper engagement and more immediate consumer action.

Another major finding is that CTV is no longer just for brands with big budgets. With the rise of programmatic self-serve tools, small and mid-size businesses are stepping into the spotlight. In 2025, most of the dollars flowing into CTV are coming from reallocations—primarily from linear TV (36%), social media (36%), and other digital channels like online video, paid search, and display. This shift reflects growing confidence in CTV’s ability to deliver targeted, high-impact campaigns, now made even more accessible through programmatic and self-serve tools, the study found.

“The combination of self-service technology, accessible pricing, and the ability to link spend to outcomes has empowered small and mid-size businesses to get a piece of the CTV pie, making it easier and effective to promote, reach, and engage with audiences," Cohen concluded.

The IAB “2025 Digital Video Ad Spend & Strategy Report: Part One” report can be accessed here. Part two of the report, which will be released on July 14th during the IAB Media Center’s Video Leadership Summit, will focus on strategies behind these growth rates.

NEW YORK—Internet advertising revenues demonstrated strong growth in 2024, increasing 14.9% year-over-year to $258.6 billion, according to the “IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report: Full Year 2024.”

The study, which showed the strongest gains since 2021, was conducted by PwC.

Digital video advertising was particularly strong, growing 19.2% to $62.1 billion, accounting for 24% of the digital ad market.

Search grew by 15.9% YoY to $102.9 billion giving it 39.8% of the total digital ad market.

Display was up 12.4% YoY to $74.3 billion (28.7% of the total) while social increased 36.7% to $88.7 billion (34.3% of total), podcast revenue was up 26.4% to $2.4 billion (0.9% of the market) and retail media grew by 23% YoY to $53.7 billion (20.8% of the total.)

“The U.S. digital ad industry showed remarkable strength in 2024. Despite the volatility from geopolitical shifts, interest rate changes, and economic uncertainty, major events like the Presidential Election and Olympics provided meaningful tailwinds,” said David Cohen, CEO, IAB. “As we look ahead to this year, there is no doubt that we will see an even more dynamic market driven by geopolitical and economic factors. There is absolutely growth to be had for those that embrace the volatility and innovate. Now is the time to future-proof your business by exploring new solutions that leverage the latest advancements in technology while ensuring that consumer privacy stays at the forefront.”

The study noted that digital video continued to be the fastest-growing format, now accounting for nearly a quarter of total ad revenue, reflecting consumer engagement with video content. Podcast advertising came back to strong growth, with a significant increase compared to 2023, over 26% vs. 5%, respectively. Social media saw renewed confidence amongst advertisers due to increased investment in user-generated content, creator-driven partnerships, and community-led spaces.

Commerce media, including retail media networks, continued its strong growth in 2024, with revenues rising 23% to $53.7 billion, as the critical importance of first-party data ecosystems positions it as a key pillar in media budgets as brands shift towards privacy-compliant audience targeting, the researchers said.

While the entire digital ecosystem grew, mid-tier media companies experienced the largest share growth, the study found. Market share among the top 11-25 media companies reached 11% in 2024, an increase of 3.1% since 2023. This growth highlights the rising influence of emerging digital platforms, democratizing the ad ecosystem where brands are allocating budgets beyond the largest platforms.

“The biggest shift in market share came from the mid-tier companies, growing at a greater rate than both the largest and the smallest players,” said Cohen. “These midsized companies are adopting new business models, encouraging creator engagement, and leveraging AI and data-driven insights to offer more personalized, cost-effective advertising solutions. As a result, we’re seeing renewed growth and a next generation market taking shape.”

“While digital advertising reached new heights in 2024, there are many forces that are quite literally transforming our industry in real time,” added Jack Koch, senior vice president, research & insights, iAB. “Next year we expect the industry to look quite different as media companies adopt new business models and lean heavily on AI, not only survive but thrive.”

Looking forward, the study made these predictions for 2024:

• AI-Driven Advertising: From Automation to Transformation: AI has evolved from a tool for automation to a transformative force in digital advertising, driven by generative and agentic models that can create content, make autonomous decisions, and manage campaigns end-to-end. These advancements are disrupting traditional ad channels like search, shifting from keyword bidding to native, conversational ad experiences embedded in AI-generated results. However, widespread adoption remains limited due to challenges with data readiness, tool fragmentation, and compliance. As AI takes over operational tasks, human creativity remains vital—pushing companies to redefine how technology and talent work together in the new media model.
• Creator Economy: Shifting to Long-Term Partnerships and Multi-Platform Expansion: The creator economy is thriving as brands shift from one-off influencer deals to long-term partnerships, aiming for more authentic, sustained engagement. Creators are expanding beyond social media into podcasts, newsletters, and retail partnerships, unlocking new monetization avenues. Short-form video dominates, but emerging platforms are reshaping consumer behavior and pushing brands to adapt. While platforms offer better revenue-sharing models, many creators still face challenges in a crowded space. Success hinges on authenticity, audience trust, and long-term strategy.
• Privacy & Regulation: The Rise of First-Party Data Strategies: The digital ad industry is shifting toward privacy-first strategies as signal loss and new state privacy laws limit user-level tracking. Brands are adopting first-party data, contextual targeting, and consent-based tools to stay compliant and effective. As consumers demand both protection and personalization, trust and transparency have become key competitive advantages.
• Streaming CTV, and Skinny Bundles: Monetizing in a Fragmented Landscape: As advertisers shift budgets from linear TV to streaming, ad-supported tiers from Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime are expanding inventory while driving down CPMs. Live sports streaming on platforms like YouTube TV and Amazon is attracting ad dollars, while skinny bundles help reduce churn and boost ad-supported revenue. With increasing fragmentation, programmatic CTV and self-serve ad platforms are giving brands more control and efficiency in reaching engaged audiences.
• Business Model Reinvention: AI, commerce, and media are reshaping advertising, with brands adopting multi-platform strategies and AI-driven automation to stay competitive. Retail media networks offer high-intent audiences and closed-loop measurement, while new monetization models like subscription-based content and shoppable media are on the rise. As consumer habits evolve, many advertisers are expanding their presence across emerging networks to hedge against platform risk and maximize flexibility, giving brands a competitive edge in a fragmented market.

Click here to access the “IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report: Full Year 2024.” Experts from IAB, PwC, and MAGNA will discuss key findings and trends from the report during a webinar on April 24^th, at 2pm ET. Register here.

NEW YORK—Digital video advertising continues to race ahead of other media, with a new report from the IAB showing that the digital video advertising spend increased 21% in 2022 to $47.1 billion and is projected to rise an additional 17% to $55.2 billion in 2023.

The data is from IAB’s “2022 Video Ad Spend & 2023 Outlook: Defining the Next Generation” report, which found that while there has been real progress in how the TV/video advertising marketplace is transacted, measured, and defined, a number of key issues still lack consensus.

One key takeaway from the report is that premium content is being redefined. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of TV/video buyers agree that creator-driven video can be considered premium. The largest-spending buyers are even more likely to agree (69%). What’s more, two-in-three buyers (66%) use the same measurement approaches for creator economy video as they do for “Hollywood”-produced video.

“Beauty has always been in the eye of the beholder,” said Eric John, vice president, Media Center, IAB. “That truism is playing out now in the world of video advertising as we see marketers and brands focusing and optimizing their spend not only in the traditional world of premium content, but also in the diverse, multiplatform world of creator content.”

The report also found that buyers want a multi-currency video marketplace by 2025. An overwhelming majority (81%) of TV/video buyers say they want two or more unified currencies for impression measurement, and among those, 92% estimate that it will happen in the next two years. Yet the lack of buyer consensus on how to define currency threatens progress. Slightly more than half (52%) want viewable impressions defined by cumulative view-time, while 48% want continuous view-time. The lack of consensus extends to the number of seconds, with 32% wanting three minimum seconds for viewability, 24% wanting five seconds, and 19% wanting four seconds, the researchers noted. 

“As urgently as buyers want a multi-currency future, there’s no question that changing a market as large as video takes time; however, the clock is ticking,” said David Cohen, CEO, IAB. “To make significant progress, buyers need to come together and align on what they need, and sellers across the diverse video ecosystem need to be part of the conversation. We are optimistic about the conversations currently taking place and will continue to advocate for universal standards, transparency, interoperability, and collaboration across the industry.”

Another highlight is that CTV and social video are must-buys. With TV/video buyers prioritizing media channels where audiences are addressable, connected TV (CTV) continues to be one of the fastest growing channels in terms of digital video ad spend — up 22% in 2022, and 37% faster than short-form video from web and app-based publishers. Buyers say CTV is a must-buy (65%), as is social video (64%).

In addition, the researchers report that TV/video buyers are increasingly focusing on attention metrics, with more than nine-in-ten (93%) using at least one method to gauge consumer attention. Half (51%) of buyers are applying biometric attention metrics to their campaigns. The biometric attention metric most utilized is eye-tracking — being used by one-third (34%) of buyers — but other metrics, including thermal scanning, pulse, heart rate, and beyond, are being leveraged.

“Buyers want to know if the audience is paying attention, and they’re making buying decisions accordingly,” added John. “

Buyers want engaged audiences watching video content of all stripes, including premium and creator-driven video. They want currencies they can trust. That’s where the industry is going — the question now is how fast we will get there.”

The full report is available here.  

NEW YORK—After record-breaking growth in 2021, internet advertising revenue has slowed but still delivered double-digit growth in 2022 according to the newly released “IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report: Full Year 2022,” conducted by PwC.

Between 2021 and 2022, internet advertising revenues grew 10.8% year-over-year (YoY) totaling $209.7 billion, and overall revenues increased $20.4 billion YoY. Q1 saw the highest growth of 21.1%, followed by Q2 at 11.8%, resulting in ad revenues for the first half of the year surpassing $100 billion for the first time. Revenues, however, slowed in Q3 (8.4%) and Q4 (4.4%) as the economy began to cool.  

Digital video advertising continued to see impressive growth. In 2022, digital video revenues totaled $47.1 billion, up 22.5% from $29.5 billion in 2021 and $26.2 billion in 2020. 

"After unprecedented growth in 2021, we expected more moderation in 2022. Economic uncertainty, geo-political unrest, a shifting regulatory environment, and addressability changes have all contributed to  revenue growing at a slower pace," said David Cohen, CEO, IAB. "Looking ahead, there is definitely still growth to be had, but it will be harder to achieve and likely less than we have become accustomed to."

Other key highlights include: 

• In 2022 digital audio revenues hit $5.9 billion. 
• Programmatic advertising revenues grew by $10.4 billion, bringing the total number to $109.4 billion, an increase of 10.5% YoY.
• Market share of the top 10 companies has declined, but they still accounted for $76.8% of the market.  The 2022 decrease in the share of ad revenue among the top 10 companies was the first time that has occurred since 2016.
• Social media revenue growth has slowed. While first half revenues of 2022 grew (+$1.8 billion YoY); second half revenues plateaued at $31.4 billion (+$0.3 billion YoY).The implementation of Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) has impacted total revenue.
• Mobile advertising revenues grew 14.1% YoY. Revenues hit a record high of $154.1 billion: the continued increase in consumption of digital audio formats such as podcasts, plus the rollout of 5G and its beneficial impact on VR and AR advertising capabilities, are likely to continue to drive mobile ad revenues in 2023.
• Search revenue grew 7.8%, but overall market share continues to decrease. While search revenue grew 7.8% YoY, its overall market share continues to decrease as buying shifts to digital video and display.

“Advertisers are diversifying their spending to target audiences using fewer identifiable data points,” said Jack Koch, senior vice president of research and insights, IAB. “Digital video, digital audio, and the long-tail of publishers are benefiting.”

Looking forward, the group noted that 2023 promises to be a challenging year. 

One area highlighted by the report was how privacy and regulation are changing advertising. Companies need to adapt to state-level privacy regulations enforced this year in California, Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, and Utah (and, effective January 1, 2025, Iowa), along with consumers’ worries about their data that resulted in privacy legislation and signal loss. 

The researchers also noted that the advertising industry is witnessing a shift towards solutions that can leverage their first-party data. This has resulted in the continued growth in connected TV (CTV) and retail media networks (RMNs), as these channels provide advertisers with a way to reach specific audiences with relevant ads at scale.

In addition, E-commerce and media companies are also working hand-in-hand to develop new ways to target and measure the effectiveness of advertising, including shoppable ads, affiliate marketing, and direct-to-consumer advertising, the IAB said. 

The status of premium content is also in flux, the group noted. While "premium" content once meant "Hollywood production" value, it's now more than ever in the eyes of the beholder. Viewer attention is shifting to content that can match specific interests - regardless of the production value, format, or screen - and creator content is now viewed as premium by many, the report noted. 

“2023 promises to be a challenging year. But this industry, more than most, is galvanized by change,” added Cohen. “The job now is identifying where the areas of growth are going to be, follow the consumer and develop solutions that meet and exceed their needs.”

IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report: Full Year 2022 can be downloaded here. 

NEW YORK—Digital video advertising spend surged 49% in 2021 and is expected to increase an additional 26% to $49.2 billion in 2022, according to IAB's newly released "2021 Video Ad Spend and 2022 Outlook" report.

The report, which was released at the 2022 IAB NewFronts, in conjunction with Standard Media Index (SMI) and Advertiser Perceptions, found that Connected TV (CTV) ad spend was the largest segment in digital video advertising. 

CTV advertising increased 57% in 2021 to $15.2 billion and is expected to grow an additional 39% in 2022 to $21.2 billion, the IAB is predicting. Between 2020 and 2022, CTV ad spend is projected to more than double (+118%). 

The IAB report also found that three out of four video buyers (76%) label CTV as a 'must buy' in their media planning budgets.

"Digital video is a driving force for buyers and will continue to be in 2022," said Eric John, vice president, IAB Media Center. "However, while CTV leads the substantial growth of digital video ad spend, the amount of dollars currently allocated to CTV is not proportionate to the amount of viewer time spent with the channel. The time is now for brands and buyers to follow consumer attention."

Although CTV will account for 36% of total time spent with linear TV and CTV combined in 2022, the amount of dollars currently allocated to CTV is much smaller than CTV audiences, the IAB reported. Only 18% of total video ad dollars are being spent on CTV vs. total video spend, which includes CTV, linear TV, social, and short-form video.

The IAB also found that buyers cited CTV ad campaigns offered a number of advantages. These include: 

• CTV enables buyers to leverage many types of data not available within linear TV buys, including first-party brand data (65%), location data (61%), and shopping data (50%).
• Among users of the following KPIs, 57% felt CTV was more effective than linear TV at delivering website/sales actions, and 46% more effective at delivering brand perception.
• Buyers felt CTV provided more transparency into where ads run, with 59% of buyers stating it was 'very clear' on where their CTV ads ran vs. only 50% and 43% for social video and other digital video, respectively.
• With no reliance on third-party cookies, buyers are turning to CTV as a privacy-safe way to spend ad dollars efficiently and effectively. Nearly three in four (73%) video buyers doing so expect to fund their third-party cookie/MAID deprecation CTV spend increases by reallocating dollars from linear TV.

But the report also found that the CTV ad sector still faces a number of challenges around cross-platform campaign activation, management, and measurement. Challenges cited by buyers include:   

• Measuring incremental reach across platforms/publishers (48%)
• Managing frequency across platforms/publishers (43%)
• A lack of transparency/interoperability within walled gardens (42%)
• Fragmentation of programmatic supply paths (35%)

To address the challenges of CTV, the IAB founded that buyers are preparing for a converged linear TV/CTV market that would ease management of cross-platform and cross-channel video buys. Nearly nine out of ten buyers (88%) anticipate a converged linear TV/CTV marketplace in the coming years, two in three (66%) linear TV/digital video buyers now have a single planning team for the two channels, and another quarter (25%) expect to have one planning team in the future.

"Fragmentation continues to be the Achilles heel for buyers," added John. "From the study, we learned that video buyers most often cite sales lift as their ideal KPI for CTV, but they are not leveraging it due to measurement complexity, sub-par tool functionality, and data lags. As the industry continues to advance and CTV prevails, advertisers are looking toward a converged marketplace that addresses these issues and helps measure the implementation of a variety of creative and targeting tactics."

"2021 Video Ad Spend and 2022 Outlook" can be downloaded here.

NEW YORK—Digital advertising set records in 2021 according to the newly released “IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report: Full Year 2021,” conducted by PwC. It found that total U.S. digital advertising jumped 35% to $189 billion in 2021, the biggest increase since 2006.

The news was even better for digital video advertising, OTT, CTV and streaming companies, with digital video advertising being one of the fastest growing sectors, spiking by 50.8% in 2021 to $39.5 billion. 

“We fully expected 2021 to be an exceptional year for digital ad growth, but even we were surprised at the degree of acceleration. Not only was every single digital channel up, but some were up more than 50% year on year,” said Libby Morgan, senior vice president, chief strategy officer, IAB. “This year’s increase is 3x what it was last year.”

The growth is consistent with a recent study from Harvard Business School, commissioned by IAB, which showed the internet economy has grown seven times faster than the U.S. economy over the past four years and now accounts for 12% of the U.S. GDP.

“What’s underneath these numbers is a very clear narrative. We are witnessing the total and complete democratization of access afforded by ad-supported digital channels,” said David Cohen, CEO, IAB. “Increased consumer usage coupled with extraordinary growth of small and mid-sized businesses during the pandemic has fueled growth across all digital — but especially digital audio and video. We expect this digital migration to drive the continued growth of a healthy and competitive digital marketplace driven by innovation and entrepreneurship.”

Although the industry continues to face uncertainty surrounding privacy regulation, the deprecation of third-party cookies and identifiers, measurement challenges and supply-chain transparency, the IAB and PwC forecast continued digital ad growth in 2022, driven by significant innovation in retail media, CTV/OTT, gaming, and digital audio. The continued rise of AR/VR, the metaverse, and Web3 technologies is expected to spark innovation — and continue to drive ad revenue in the years ahead.

“According to the Census Bureau, 2021 saw the greatest business growth in history with 5.4 million new businesses created,” said Cohen. “Those businesses rely upon the ad-supported internet to attract new customers and provide products and services to the American public. We believe this small business engine will be a key contributor to fueling ongoing digital media and marketing ecosystem growth.”

Other key highlights of the 2021 results include:

• Digital video continues to be one of the fastest growing channels, up 50.8% compared to last year, with total revenues of $39.5B.
• Digital audio captured the highest YoY growth, up 57.9% to $4.9B.
• Social media advertising was up 39.3% to $57.7 billion, as consumers continue to engage with Meta platforms, Snapchat, TikTok, and Twitter.
• While search revenue grew substantially (32.8%) in 2021, it did not grow as strong as other areas, leading to a slight decrease in total revenue share (reduction of 0.8 percentage points).

"The IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report: Full Year 2021" can be downloaded here.  

NEW YORK—The old adage is to follow the money, and in 2019 the money is increasingly flowing toward digital video. The “Digital Content NewFronts: 2019 Video Ad Spend Report” by IAB Research shows that there is greater video marketing investments across digital platforms—like mobile and OTT.

Brands, on average, are expected to increase their digital video spending to $18 million in 2019, with $9.3 million allocated to original content. Average digital video advertising was at $12.1 million in 2017 and $14.2 million in 2018.

“Digital video is growing—not only are the dollar figures rising rapidly, but advertisers are eager to adopt new digital video formats as well,” said Anna Berger, executive vice president, industry initiatives, IAB.

NewFronts appear to be a key driver of this growth, according to IAB. The report indicated that 84% of advertisers that attended NewFronts were influenced on original digital video spending. Eight out of 10 advertisers agree that their attendance resulted in increased spending on original digital video content, and more than half said that NewFronts resulted in greater spending throughout the year.

Direct-to-Consumer brands are among the big fans of digital video spending. Of DTC brands with more than $1 million per year budget, 78% plan to increase their ad spend on digital video in the next 12 months, while they are expected to boost their investment by 50% from a year ago.

Additional findings include the growth of new digital ad formats, i.e. stories and shoppable ads, are expected to see a sizeable increase in 2019; 59% of ad buyers plan to increase their TV spend in the next 12 months, with half reporting increases in OTT; buyers expect that half of digital video budgets will be spent through programmatic buys; seven in 10 digital video advertisers use influencers in their digital video advertising; and more than eight in 10 advertisers agree that a unified multi-platform buying solution is important.

“The availability of, and demand for high-quality video content across screens—from OTT to mobile and everywhere in between—is breaking down traditional silos between TV and digital video,” said Eric John, deputy director, IAB Digital Video Center of Excellence. “This year’s report clearly points out that buyers are looking for more unified approaches to planning, executing and measuring video campaigns across platforms. The more the industry pivots to make good on the promise of ‘video everywhere,’ the more we can expect digital video budgets to increase.”

The full report is available here.