IAB Australia yesterday released its Video Advertising State of the Nation 2026 report, the sixth annual edition of a survey that has tracked Australian agency investment in digital video since the organisation's Video Advertising Council was established in 2014. The report, published on May 6, 2026, draws on responses from 78 advertising agency decision-makers and maps a market that reached AUD 5.4 billion in calendar year 2025 - a 19.8% increase year-on-year - while surfacing persistent structural problems around measurement, metric standardisation, and cross-platform comparability.

The survey was conducted in April 2026. Respondents are senior representatives from independent and major holding group agencies who are responsible for, or who influence, advertising decision-making for their company or clients and who have previously purchased digital video advertising. The scope of the survey covered video advertising appearing on connected TV, computers, smartphones, and tablets, and included long-form and short-form digital content as well as social platforms.

Video advertising's position in the Australian market

The 5.4 billion dollar total for calendar year 2025 places video at 29% of total Australian internet advertising expenditure, according to the IAB Australia Internet Advertising Revenue Report prepared by PwC. That share has held steady even as the absolute figures have grown substantially. According to the report, the compound annual growth rate for video advertising between 2019 and 2025 stands at 21.8%, compared to 12.0% for total internet advertising over the same period. The divergence confirms a sustained structural shift in format allocation rather than a short-term anomaly.

PPC Land covered the full-year 2025 Australian internet advertising figures when they were published in March 2026, noting that video delivered the standout result while non-video display crept forward just 1.9%.

Within the 5.4 billion dollar total, the report segments expenditure across three platform categories for calendar year 2025. Other video - comprising YouTube, SBS On Demand, Foxtel, short-form editorial video, and other formats - accounts for the largest share at 50%, or approximately 2.7 billion dollars. Social video - covering Meta platforms, TikTok, Snapchat, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and X - holds 40% of the total at approximately 2.2 billion dollars, having grown 35.1% year-on-year. BVOD (Broadcaster Video on Demand), which covers advertising on 7Plus, 9Now, and 10Play, accounts for the remaining 10%, or approximately 500 million dollars, growing 7.1% year-on-year. Other video grew 12.2%.

Social Video's 35.1% growth rate substantially outpaces the overall video category, which itself outpaces the general display market. That gap between social video's trajectory and BVOD's more modest 7.1% growth is likely to inform budget allocation discussions at agencies in the coming year.

Audience data underpinning the market

The IAB Australia report draws on Ipsos iris Establishment Survey data from March 2026, based on a sample of 12,000 Australians aged 14 and over. According to that data, 85% of all people aged 14 and over watched online video in the preceding seven days. The figure climbs to 90% among the 25-to-44 age group and remains at 88% for both the 14-to-24 and 45-to-64 cohorts. Among those aged 65 and over, the proportion who watched any video online in the preceding seven days was 74%.

Paid streaming services reached 61% of the overall 14-plus population in the same seven-day period, with 70% of 25-to-44 year olds having done so. Free live television remained strong among older Australians, with 84% of those aged 45-to-64 having watched it in the preceding week compared to just 30% of the 14-to-24 cohort. These figures illustrate why agencies must plan across a fragmented set of environments to reach the full population.

Macroeconomic concerns displace measurement as the top industry worry

A notable shift from the previous year's findings involves the hierarchy of industry concerns. According to the report, the Australian economy and global economic uncertainty now tops the list of concerns about marketing and advertising investment in 2026, cited by 48% of respondents. In the prior year's survey, executing cross-channel media measurement held that position. Executing cross-channel media measurement and understanding the opportunities in AI are now tied in second place, each cited by 41%. Media inflation follows at 39%, demonstrating incrementality at 35%, ecosystem complexity at 27%, and lack of a unified TV/video currency also at 27%.

The IAB US Outlook study, conducted in January 2026 with 205 respondents, shows a different ordering for American ad buyers. Understanding agentic AI ad buying and campaign execution ranks third among US concerns at 40%, while understanding GenAI's use in media campaigns sits fourth at 38%. The top concern among US respondents is adapting to evolving consumer behaviour at 44%. The comparison suggests Australian buyers are more immediately preoccupied with macroeconomic conditions whereas their US counterparts have moved AI-related uncertainty higher up the agenda.

Investment intentions: streaming platforms lead

The report asks respondents whether they expect to invest more, less, or about the same in 2026 compared to 2025 across a range of formats. Ad-supported subscription streaming platforms - such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video - lead all categories: 71% of respondents expect to spend more on them in 2026. That is a substantial majority and reflects the expanding inventory available as platforms that previously operated purely on subscription revenue have added advertising tiers.

Podcast advertising and optimising content for AI platforms are tied second, with 59% expecting to increase investment in each. BVOD advertising and Digital OOH are next at 56% each. Creator/influencer ads and partnerships attract increased investment expectations from 54% of respondents. Programmatic CTV sits at 47%, with 38% expecting to hold spending about the same and 15% expecting to reduce it.

At the lower end, ads within live video programming and in-game ads attract the smallest proportions of buyers expecting to increase investment, at 20% and 19% respectively, with notable shares expecting to reduce investment in both formats.

Goals: sales and conversions are now the primary driver

The top three goals for media investment in 2026, according to the survey, are driving sales and conversions (49%), increasing brand awareness and perceptions (46%), and maximising ROI/cost efficiency (37%). Acquiring new customers was cited by 29%, optimising reach and frequency by 27%, and building long-term brand value by 23%.

The report notes a related data point: 42% of surveyed ad buyers said they will increase their share of expenditure on brand advertising in 2026, while 28% said they will spend more on performance. The gap between sales being the top stated goal and brand advertising attracting the greater share increase suggests that practitioners see these objectives as interconnected rather than competing - a finding consistent with broader industry discussion around full-funnel approaches.

Programmatic CTV: frequency control is the defining requirement

Among the 46% of respondents who indicated they intend to increase investment in programmatic CTV in 2026, the leading expectation when buying CTV/OTT programmatically is the ability to control ad frequency, cited by 50%. Easier optimisation and flexibility comes second at 41%, followed by easier activation across streaming networks at 40%, easier measurement at 32%, and better pricing at 29%.

Ability to append first-party or third-party data ranks sixth at 28%, easier scale at 26%, better ROI/ROAS at 22%, ability to launch quickly at 21%, and ability to activate innovative or immersive ads at 10%.

Frequency control's position at the top of this list is technically significant. In environments where the same household may be exposed to the same advertisement across multiple streaming applications - each operating its own inventory with its own demand partners - controlling cumulative exposure without a single unified identifier is technically complex. The emphasis suggests buyers are aware of the problem and pressing vendors and platforms to address it. IAB Australia's video measurement framework, published in December 2025, identified CTV as the most rapidly evolving segment requiring standardised measurement approaches.

Live streaming and creator content: mainstream but unevenly distributed

Six in ten ad buyers surveyed - 61% - have placed advertisements in live event content on streaming networks or platforms. Of that group, 32% treat live streaming advertising as a core part of or regular inclusion in campaigns, while 29% have tested a few placements. A further 22% have researched or discussed the opportunity without executing, and 17% have never considered it.

The IAB Tech Lab's Live Event Ad Playbook, referenced in the report, provides technical recommendations and protocol enhancements aimed at enabling scalable, low-latency, and reliable ad delivery within live streaming environments.

Creator and influencer marketing data tells a similar story of broad but uneven adoption. According to the report, 63% of digital video ad buyers have used video creators and talent as part of their creator marketing strategy. Of those, 25% include creator placements as a core or regular campaign component, 38% have tested in a few campaigns, and 13% have researched without activating. The remaining 25% have no experience with creator marketing and have never considered it.

A parallel finding from the IAB Australia Audio Advertising State of the Nation 2026 shows 61% of digital audio ad buyers have experience using podcast creators and talent as part of their creator marketing strategy. The audio report also found that 25% of digital audio ad buyers have placed advertisements in video podcasts - a format that sits at the intersection of both categories.

Retail media and video: high interest, limited closed-loop measurement

The convergence of retail media and video is identified as an emerging priority, but with a significant gap between stated interest and operational execution. According to the report, 54% of respondents are regularly using or testing retailer first-party shopper data to target video campaigns across digital video environments. An equal 54% are regularly using or testing CTV commerce integrations linking video advertisements to shopping, for example via QR code.

Creator and influencer integration of products and purchases within video is being regularly used or tested by 51% of respondents. Shoppable video formats with embedded commerce functionality attract regular use or testing from 35%. However, closed-loop measurement using retail media infrastructure - which would connect a video impression directly to a retail sales outcome via the retailer's own data infrastructure - is being regularly used by only 6% of respondents, with 32% researching or testing it.

The gap between the 54% actively using retail first-party data for targeting and the 6% operating closed-loop measurement indicates that the technical integration of video advertising with retail measurement systems remains at an early stage. High interest does not yet translate into the kind of outcome attribution that would fully justify budget allocation decisions. IAB Australia published retail media measurement guidelines in August 2024, addressing standardised approaches for evaluating the effectiveness of retail media campaigns.

Measurement tools and the persistent fragmentation problem

Digital brand lift surveys remain the most used measurement tool, cited by 68% of respondents. Market Mix Modelling has grown in prominence compared to previous editions of the survey, and now ties with campaign volume reporting and campaign audience reporting at 62% each. Online conversion tracking is used by 50%. Cross-media brand lift surveys and creative testing each stand at 29%.

The report's qualitative data is direct on the core frustration. One agency media planner/buyer is quoted as saying: "the most useful thing the industry could do is finally agree on one set of video ad metrics - so we can stop having different definitions across various platforms." An agency director quoted in the report describes the situation as video being "planned and bought holistically, it's still assessed in silos, with each platform defining views, engagement and completion differently." A second agency director states that clearer standards around reach, attention, and outcomes, combined with improved data access, "would make video easier to buy, easier to compare and more accountable overall."

The data on outcomes measurement signals explain why standardisation matters operationally. When asked how consistently they obtain the quality data signals required for outcomes measurement techniques - such as Market Mix Modelling and incrementality testing - respondents show meaningful variation across platform types. Social video (TikTok, Meta) delivers always or sometimes adequate signals for 77% of respondents. BVOD reaches 75%, and ad-based video on demand (YouTube, Tubi) reaches 79%. Ad-supported subscription streaming platforms (Netflix, Prime) trail significantly, with only 63% consistently or sometimes getting adequate signals. For 19% of respondents, signals from that category are rarely available.

A data point cited from the IAB US State of Data 2026 adds further context: AI-driven improvements in advanced measurement could unlock 26 billion US dollars in total media investment within two years, by correctly attributing value to activity that is already delivering returns but is not being credited by current measurement frameworks.

Brand metrics lead campaign evaluation; sales metrics lag despite being the top investment goal

The disconnect between stated investment goals and measurement practice is visible in the key performance metrics data. Brand metrics - awareness, perceptions, familiarity, purchase intent - are rated as important by 80% of respondents for evaluating video advertising campaigns. Audience metrics (reach and frequency) follow at 71%, media metrics such as CPM at 68%, and sales metrics (sales lift) at 49%.

The gap is notable: 49% of respondents identify driving sales and conversions as the top investment goal, yet sales metrics are rated as important for campaign evaluation by only 49% - and quality metrics (viewability) attract only 42%. Attention metrics sit at 31%.

This divergence likely reflects measurement infrastructure constraints. Sales attribution requires data integration between advertising platforms and retail or transaction data - the same gap that limits closed-loop retail media measurement. Until that infrastructure matures, brand and audience metrics remain the practical currency of campaign evaluation even when sales outcomes are the stated objective.

AI in video planning, activation, and analysis

The report identifies several areas where agencies see meaningful potential for artificial intelligence in video advertising operations. Analysing and reporting performance data against campaign goals leads the list, cited by 33% as among the top three AI opportunities. Predictive real-time budget and bid adjustments follows at 31%, optimising campaigns across channels at 30%, Market Mix Models at 28%, and attributing campaign incremental lift and actions across devices and platforms at 20%.

The concentration of AI opportunity responses in measurement-related tasks - performance reporting, MMM, attribution - is consistent with the broader diagnosis in the report that measurement is the category most in need of improvement. Agencies appear to view AI not primarily as a creative or activation tool but as a mechanism for making sense of fragmented outcome data across an increasingly complex multi-platform environment.

Cross-platform planning and the screen gap

Nine in ten agencies report having a unified strategy across screens, always or sometimes. Specifically, 43% say they always adopt a unified strategy across all screens and 47% say they sometimes do. However, the unified effectiveness measurement picture looks quite different. Only 18% say they always unify effectiveness measurement across screens, and 57% say they sometimes do. A combined 25% rarely or never unify measurement across screens.

Buying cross-screen inventory in one place is also rare: 10% always do so, 54% sometimes, and 30% rarely - with 6% never doing it. What excites agencies most about the growth of the video streaming ecosystem reflects these priorities: better cross-platform measurement tops the list at 59%, followed by improved targeting and personalisation at 56%, and innovative ad format opportunities and increased audience reach tied at 40%.

The report's overall conclusion - that the Australian video advertising market is characterised by strong growth, increasing complexity, and a clear need for standardisation - matches a pattern visible across global markets. PPC Land's coverage of IAB Europe's Virtual Programmatic Day 2026, held April 30, 2026, documented similar practitioner frustration with CTV measurement gaps and inconsistent metric definitions across streaming platforms.

Timeline

Summary

Who: IAB Australia's Video Advertising Council, chaired by Vikki Pearce of Zenith, produced the report with support from Jenn Thomas, Head of Marketing and Membership at IAB Australia. The survey drew on 78 senior advertising agency decision-makers across independent and major holding group agencies in Australia.

What: The sixth annual Video Advertising State of the Nation report, covering the Australian digital video advertising landscape across connected TV, BVOD, social video, ad-supported streaming, and creator-led content. Key metrics include a AUD 5.4 billion market growing at 19.8% year-on-year in calendar year 2025, with 71% of agency buyers expecting to increase spend on ad-supported subscription streaming platforms in 2026 and persistent gaps in cross-platform measurement identified as the primary operational barrier.

When: The survey was conducted in April 2026 and the report was published on May 6, 2026, as Wave 6 of the annual series that began tracking the market in 2020.

Where: Australia. The survey covers video advertising investment decisions made by Australian agency professionals on behalf of their clients across all connected device environments, including national broadcaster streaming platforms, YouTube, social media platforms, and international subscription streaming services operating in the Australian market.

Why: Video advertising has grown faster than any other format category in Australian digital advertising for multiple consecutive years, with a compound annual growth rate of 21.8% between 2019 and 2025 compared to 12.0% for total internet advertising. As the market scales, the absence of standardised metrics and the inconsistency of outcome measurement data across platforms creates a gap between where money is being spent and what can be confidently evaluated. The IAB Australia Video Council conducts the annual survey to identify where those gaps are most acute and to direct future standards and resource development work accordingly.

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