AI and ad fraud reshape sustainability agenda, report

IAB Europe has published its fourth annual State of Readiness – Sustainability in Digital Advertising Report, expanding its scope to assess both environmental and social sustainability across the European digital advertising ecosystem.

The 2026 edition marks the first time the survey evaluates environmental factors, including carbon emissions, alongside social dimensions such as privacy, media plurality, accessibility, diversity and responsible media.

The study is based on 135 responses collected between November 2025 and January 2026 from companies and associations operating across European markets.

Social impacts rank above environmental factors

The report introduces the first aggregate Double Materiality Analysis (DMA) for the sector. It finds that social impacts, including privacy and media plurality, rank above environmental impacts when combining financial and impact materiality.

More than half of respondents, 56 percent, cite AI content ingestion and traffic as the top ecosystem challenge. AI-related concerns now surpass addressability and measurement, which had dominated in previous years. At the same time, nearly 30 percent identify ad fraud as a major challenge, up from single-digit levels in earlier surveys.

Regulatory compliance has overtaken corporate social responsibility as the leading driver of sustainability action, reflecting the growing influence of frameworks such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. Employer reputation also emerges as a stronger driver than client expectations, signalling sustainability’s role in attracting and retaining talent.

Environmental measurement progresses, reporting gaps remain

The proportion of companies estimating environmental impact across all campaigns has doubled year on year. However, environmental initiatives continue to outpace social actions by around 10 percentage points, with carbon reduction measures more widely adopted than social impact programmes.

Reporting readiness remains uneven. According to the findings, 32 percent of respondents have not published and do not plan to publish a sustainability report.

Steffen Hubert, Director of External Affairs & Sustainability, Seven.One Entertainment Group and Chair of IAB Europe’s Sustainability Standards Committee: "This year’s State of Readiness confirms what the Beyond Reach report began to map: when you apply an industry-wide double materiality lens, social topics come out on top. Privacy, accessibility, responsible media and media plurality are business-critical conditions for trust and long-term value creation. Now we must turn that clarity into comparable definitions, credible evidence and practical action across the ecosystem."

Dimitris Beis, Data & Innovation Strategist, IAB Europe: "State of Readiness 2026 provides quantitative grounding for the evolving scope of the Sustainability Standards Committee. It moves digital ad sustainability beyond being seen as a carbon footprint side-car, while recognising that environmental impact remains critical, and demonstrates that sustainability as defined here reflects the real structural issues facing our ecosystem."

Industry collaboration on social standards

In response to the findings, IAB Europe’s Sustainability Standards Committee will expand its work on guidance, education and best practices across social sustainability themes. Alongside its environmental initiatives, the committee will increase its focus on responsible media, accessibility, diversity, media plurality and privacy to support more structured and measurable sustainability efforts across digital advertising.

The full report can be accessed here

www.iabeurope.eu

Follow Marketing Report on LinkedIn