The IAB UK Podcast

Commerce media has become one of the fastest-growing areas of digital advertising, but is it time to think bigger?In this episode of the IAB UK Podcast, James Chandler is joined by Denise Breslin, IAB UK's new Commerce Media Lead, and David Fieldhouse, Commerce, Media & Innovation Lead at WPP Media, to discuss why the industry is moving beyond the term retail media and embracing the broader opportunity of commerce media.Together they explore how first-party transactional data is opening up new opportunities far beyond traditional retail, with sectors including travel, finance and marketplaces all becoming powerful commerce media players. They discuss the challenges of fragmentation, the need for better measurement and standards, and why the convergence of brand and commerce is changing the way advertisers think about media investment.The conversation also looks ahead to the role AI will play in commerce media, from predictive modelling and agentic shopping to the growing importance of data collaboration. Plus, they consider where the UK sits on the global stage, why London continues to drive innovation, and what the next 12 months could hold for one of advertising's fastest-evolving disciplines.

The UK digital advertising market reached £21.2 billion in the first half of the year, but the biggest story isn't just how much was spent, it's where that investment is going and what it says about the future of advertising.In this episode of the IAB UK Podcast, James Chandler is joined by Adam Edelshain, VP of Client Services at Media Sense, and IAB UK's Elizabeth Lane, Head of Insights, to unpack the latest IAB UK Digital Adspend report. Together they explore the trends shaping today's market, from the continued rise of retail media and the rapid growth of TV+, to the increasing dominance of programmatic advertising and why digital investment continues to grow despite ongoing economic pressures.The conversation also looks ahead to what a £50 billion UK digital advertising market could look like by 2027, how AI is changing not only the way campaigns are created and optimised but also the way people discover and choose products, and why the boundaries between channels are becoming increasingly blurred. If you want to understand where digital advertising is heading next, this episode offers an insightful look beyond the headline figures.

AI isn't just making advertising smarter—it's making it simpler.In this episode of the IAB UK Ad Tech Podcast, Alex is joined by Tom Laband, CEO & Co-founder of Adsquare, and Luc Benyon, Head of Marketing, to explore how AI is transforming audience intelligence, campaign planning and media activation. From conversational interfaces that replace complex workflows to AI-powered audience modelling built around the IAB Audience Taxonomy, they discuss how technology is helping advertisers spend less time navigating platforms and more time making informed decisions.Plus, the team rounds up the latest developments in ad tech, including AMP 3.0, Amazon's latest AI announcements, conversational advertising and what the rise of agentic technologies could mean for the future of programmatic advertising.

After a decade of ranking the world’s Best Cities, Time Out welcomed Intrepid Travel as the franchise’s first commercial partner. What made it the right match, and what can other brands learn from their approach?James Chandler is joined by Hazel McGuire, Chief Marketing Officer at Intrepid Travel, and Gareth Thomas, Director of Strategic Partnerships at Time Out, to explore how the collaboration came together and what each organisation brings to the relationship.From choosing partners with shared values to protecting editorial independence, they discuss the decisions behind the partnership, the role of personal relationships and how to build lasting commercial value.

What does digital advertising’s £175 billion contribution to the UK economy look like beyond the headlines?James Chandler is joined by Sinead Coogan Jobes, Head of Policy & Public Affairs at IAB UK, and Neil Ross, Partner and Head of Practice for Tech, Media and Telecoms at Public First, to explore the Powering Growth report.From helping small businesses find customers to supporting growth across the UK’s regions, they discuss how digital advertising creates economic value and the barriers preventing businesses from making the most of it. They also examine AI’s role in the industry’s evolution and how creator marketing, retail media and TV+ could open up new opportunities.Looking ahead to 2035, the conversation explores the report’s possible growth paths and what government and industry should prioritise to realise digital advertising’s potential.

AI is changing the way advertisers discover, package and optimise inventory, but what does that actually mean for buyers, publishers and the wider ad tech ecosystem?In this episode of the IAB UK Ad Tech Podcast, Pat is joined by Alexandra Balashoiu, Chief Product Officer at OneTag, to unpack the next evolution of programmatic curation. Together they explore how AI is helping move curation beyond simple inventory packaging and towards outcome-driven decisioning, where real-time signals, media quality and advertiser objectives work together to deliver better campaign performance. Plus, Pat, Joe & Alex round up the latest ad tech news, discussing Amazon DSP's adoption of VAST 4, the growing importance of creative identifiers, and the role creators are playing in helping AI companies build trust with audiences.