European advertisers lack addressability expertise despite growing adoption

European advertising professionals are testing privacy-first targeting technologies at scale, but significant expertise gaps persist among advertisers as the industry confronts fragmented standards and measurement challenges.

IAB Europe released findings on November 26, 2025, from its first pan-European study examining how organizations across 27 markets have adopted addressability and measurement solutions. The research, conducted between August and September 2025, gathered responses from 79 stakeholders including advertisers, agencies, publishers, and technology providers.

Nearly nine in ten respondents reported moderate familiarity with addressability in digital advertising, yet true expertise remains concentrated within ad tech companies and agencies, according to the research. Advertisers displayed notable knowledge gaps beyond basic familiarity, with the study revealing that organizations managing smaller budgets demonstrate less expertise than their larger counterparts.

Cross-platform data access emerged as the dominant industry challenge, cited by 68% of participants. Privacy regulations affected 58% of respondents, while signal loss from cookie deprecation impacted 48%. Buy-side organizations expressed particular concern about cross-platform data access at 78%, compared to publishers who focused more heavily on signal loss and audience segmentation obstacles.

The findings highlighted a clear divide between stakeholder groups. Ad tech companies and agencies showed the highest likelihood of employing experts, while advertisers lacked personnel with expertise beyond moderate familiarity. Analysis by job function revealed that technical roles such as programmatic specialists and technology engineers were more likely to classify themselves as experts in addressability.

First-party data and cookies represented the most common user identification methods at 58%, according to the survey. IP addresses appeared in 50% of implementations, followed by third-party cookies at 45%, hashed email addresses at 43%, and publisher-based identifiers at 45%. Organizations with larger budgets employed more user identification solutions than smaller counterparts, while publishers and media owners reported significantly higher adoption than advertisers.

More than half of surveyed organizations currently adopt or test Data Clean Rooms and Unified ID solutions, making these the most prevalent addressability technologies. Contextual Data solutions reached 46% adoption, with Seller-Defined Audiences at 38% and Customer Match at 36%. Buy-side organizations favored activation-focused solutions including Customer Match, probabilistic cohorts, and ID-less approaches, while publishers emphasized first-party data and contextual solutions.

Desktop web dominated as the primary environment for addressability solution deployment. Mobile app and mobile web showed strong uptake for Customer Match, Data Clean Rooms, and Contextual Data. Solutions for digital out-of-home and in-game channels remained underutilized, while retail media represents an emerging but not yet mainstream adoption area.

Performance evaluation revealed addressability solutions delivered strongest results in supporting frequency capping, rated 3.70 on a scale from one to five. Increasing addressable audience size scored 3.52, while audience activation reached 3.45 and incremental reach achieved 3.19.

Over 70% of participants reported high familiarity with privacy-first measurement, indicating substantial overall confidence. This expertise appeared more pronounced on the buy-side at 75% compared to publishers and media owners at 53.3%, suggesting targeted education could close existing gaps.

Attribution without cookies challenged 53% of respondents, while lack of standardization affected 58%. Buy-side participants expressed greater impact from tracking limitations, whereas publishers highlighted regulatory compliance and fragmented standards as primary concerns.

Traditional key performance indicators maintained dominance, with 94% using media metrics and 86% relying on campaign metrics. Engagement, attribution, and brand lift methods attracted growing interest from 50-65% of participants, while advanced approaches including cross-channel measurement and attention scores remained emerging. Privacy-safe, aggregated, and modeled approaches gained momentum, with Media Mix Modeling and Reach Estimation each reaching 46% adoption.

Measurement solutions deployed most commonly across desktop and mobile web, connected TV, and mobile apps. Buy-side respondents demonstrated broader channel adoption, particularly in mobile and CTV environments, while publishers concentrated more heavily in desktop and retail media. Despite cross-channel activity, consistency and interoperability remained key industry challenges.

Stakeholders in emerging markets expressed heightened concern around limited awareness and education regarding available solutions, reflecting the evolving nature of these regions. Mature market participants cited fewer measurement challenges overall. Business-facing roles prioritized the lack of industry standards, reflecting focus on consistency and interoperability, while campaign managers emphasized effective attribution without cookies.

Organizations with smaller budgets expressed greater concern about limited cross-platform data access and knowledge gaps, likely reflecting constrained resources for training and expert support. Publishers reported higher numbers of challenges than other stakeholder groups, consistent with their reliance on robust addressability and measurement solutions as core business model components.

Development of standardized frameworks and industry guidelines emerged as the top priority at 72%, underscoring strong demand for consistency and alignment. Consumer transparency ranked second at 59%, followed by educational initiatives at 56% and improved interoperability at 56%.

Lucio Gagliardi, Digital Advertising Product Manager at IAB Europe, stated the findings demonstrate progress while highlighting that many organizations, particularly brands, require deeper support to assess and implement addressability and measurement solutions with confidence. Ensuring the industry moves forward together will necessitate strong education, clearer guidance, and alignment on standards.

Wayne Tassie, Group Director NL at DoubleVerify and Chair of IAB Europe's Advertising & Media Committee, noted that addressability and measurement sit at the core of Europe's acceleration toward a privacy-first advertising ecosystem. Organizations require clarity to map their vision, regardless of whether they operate as advertisers, agencies, publishers, or technology providers.

The research methodology involved an online survey distributed through IAB Europe channels to members and the broader digital advertising community. Support from national IABs and federations across more than 27 European countries enabled participation from diverse markets. Respondents included 35% from publishers and media owners, 25% from ad tech companies including demand-side platforms and supply-side platforms, 15% from agencies, and 4% from advertisers.

Analysis by organization size demonstrated that participants with smaller advertising spend or revenue budgets reported less familiarity and expertise in addressability. Market analysis showed that those in global roles were more likely to possess very high familiarity or expert knowledge compared to local or regional positions.

The report revealed publishers experience a higher total number of challenges than other stakeholder groups, which aligns with their dependence on sophisticated addressability and measurement capabilities for revenue generation. Publishers participating in the study highlighted particular concerns around signal loss and audience segmentation activation difficulties.

IAB Europe's Addressability and Measurement Working Group developed the research as part of ongoing efforts to provide industry stakeholders with clearer visibility into the ecosystem of available tools, solutions, and use cases. The organization plans to develop additional educational resources to strengthen industry understanding of addressability solutions and deepen awareness of privacy regulations affecting identity and addressability practices.

The findings indicated that stakeholders in business-facing roles primarily concerned themselves with lack of industry standards, reflecting emphasis on consistency and interoperability across partners. Product role participants cited integration challenges and cost pressures as key concerns, highlighting operational and technical barriers to implementation.

Organizations face ongoing challenges around creative adaptation and production costs within addressable environments. Research published in July 2025 revealed that 72% of marketers reuse or slightly modify assets across social media and connected television platforms, with only 25% developing tailored creative for both channels.

The advertising technology sector has undergone substantial transformation as privacy regulations intensified and browser restrictions expanded. IAB Tech Lab released comprehensive ID-Less Solutions guidance in July 2025, providing a technical framework for targeting and measuring campaigns without traditional identifiers.

Privacy-compliant identity solutions have gained prominence across European markets. Telecommunications-powered approaches like Utiq have integrated with major publishers including RTL Deutschland, demonstrating that consent-based addressability functions effectively across digital properties.

Data collaboration technologies represent another significant development area. IAB Tech Lab's PAIR protocol enables secure audience matching while protecting user privacy, utilizing advanced commutative encryption techniques that allow matching of encrypted user data without revealing underlying personal information.

Timeline

• August-September 2025 - IAB Europe conducts survey of 79 stakeholders across 27+ European markets
• July 2025 - IAB Tech Lab publishes ID-Less Solutions Guidance framework
• October 2025 - Utiq and Visoon launch consent-based identifiers for TV advertising
• November 6, 2025 - Research shows 43% of advertisers plan addressable TV spending increases
• November 26, 2025 - IAB Europe releases first pan-European Adoption of Addressability & Measurement Solutions Report

Summary

Who: IAB Europe's Addressability & Measurement Working Group surveyed 79 advertisers, agencies, publishers, and technology providers across Europe, with support from national IABs and federations.

What: The first pan-European study examining adoption of addressability and measurement solutions revealed expertise gaps among advertisers, fragmented implementation across markets, and overwhelming demand for standardized frameworks, with 68% citing cross-platform data access as the top challenge and over 50% testing Data Clean Rooms and Unified IDs.

When: The research was conducted between August and September 2025, with findings released on November 26, 2025.

Where: The study covered more than 27 European markets, revealing different patterns between mature and emerging regions, with stakeholders in emerging markets expressing heightened concern around limited awareness and inconsistent standards.

Why: The research addresses critical industry needs as European advertising transitions toward privacy-first approaches, with stakeholders requiring clearer guidance, standardized frameworks, and improved interoperability to navigate identity, data, and measurement challenges effectively while maintaining advertising effectiveness under increasingly stringent privacy regulations.