Wednesday 6 May 2026: Video advertising continued to demonstrate strong growth and strategic importance in the broader Australian advertising market over the last twelve months reaching 29% share of the total market for 2025 at a growth rate of 19% year on year. The IAB Australia 2026 Video Advertising State of the Nation Report also noted an uplift in agencies and marketers looking to invest more in brand video advertising, and that investment intent remains strong across an increasing diversity of types of video ad formats and environments.
However, the backdrop of economic uncertainty was noted as making for a very short and nervous market, with 48% of agency leaders identifying the economy as their leading concern, overtaking cross-channel media measurement and the impact of AI which were both each cited as concerns by 41%.
Gai Le Roy, CEO of IAB Australia, said “Advertisers are operating in a more cautious market, but they are not pulling back from investment in video advertising. They do, however, have stronger expectations of media accountability and a continued need to balance brand and performance investment. The next phase of growth in video advertising will depend on how well the industry can support advertisers with consistent measurement, and better visibility across an increasingly complex media environment.”
The economic concerns are fuelling a focus on outcomes-based measurement with 9 in 10 agencies having a unified strategy for planning video campaigns across screens including MMM. However, the report found a gap between how video is planned and how it is measured, with 25% of agencies rarely or never unifying effectiveness measurement across those same screens. It also noted the data inputs required for outcomes measurement remain uneven across environments, with the top cited measure of campaign success differing with the top stated goal for media investment. This misalignment highlights the importance of IAB Australia’s current Future of Measurement project which is seeking to provide guidance on best practice frameworks and set out a forward view of how measurement is likely to evolve in Australia.
AI is also expected to play a growing role in addressing measurement and optimisation challenges. Australian agencies see some of the greatest opportunities for AI in analysing and reporting performance data against campaign goals, Market Mix Modelling, attribution and incremental lift. The report also references IAB US research that found AI-driven improvements in advanced measurement could unlock $US26 billion in total media investment within two years by representing channel fairly and more accurately crediting what is already working.
Vikki Pearce, Head of Digital at Zenith and IAB Australia Video Council co-chair said “Video continues to earn its place as one of the most strategic parts of the media mix because it can genuinely do both jobs: build brands and drive outcomes. What’s changing in 2026 is not the ambition, but the operating environment. Buyers are navigating more platforms, more formats, and more ways to activate, from streaming and CTV to live moments and creator-led ecosystems, while still being accountable for performance. That’s why this year’s report is such an important pulse-check. It shows strong momentum, but also a clear call to simplify what we can by aligning on definitions, improving cross-platform measurement, and lifting the quality of inputs that power modern models. If we can do that together, we unlock a better experience for audiences and far more confidence for marketers to keep investing in video.”
Natalie Stanbury, Director of Research at IAB Australia said “The research shows buyers are moving towards more advanced outcomes measurement, but the consistency of data signals still varies across video environments. That matters when advertisers are being asked to compare investment across BVOD, social video, AVOD and ad-supported streaming platforms. The work the industry is doing today on unified measurement standards, consistent creative tracking and cross-platform measurement frameworks is critical to supporting the next stage of video advertising growth in a multi-platform environment.”
Additional findings from the report
- Driving sales and conversions was identified as the top media investment goal for 2026 by 49% of respondents, while 42% of ad buyers expect to spend more on brand advertising this year and 28% expect to spend more on performance advertising.
- Retail and video are increasingly converging, with 54% of respondents regularly using or testing retailer first-party shopper data to target video campaigns across digital video environments. 54% are also regularly using or testing CTV commerce integrations linking video ads to shopping.
- Ad-supported subscription streaming platforms were named as key growth area with 71% of ad buyers expecting to increase spend this year, while 46% of respondents intend to increase investment in programmatic CTV in 2026.
- Frequency control is the top expectation when buying CTV and OTT programmatically, cited by 50% of respondents, followed by easier optimisation and easier activation.
- 6 in 10 ad buyers surveyed have placed ads in live event content on streaming networks or platforms, highlighting the growing role of live streaming in digital video strategies.
- 63% of digital video ad buyers have used video creators and talent as part of their creator marketing strategy, while IAB Australia’s Audio Advertising State of the Nation Report also found 61% of digital audio ad buyers have experience using podcast creators and talent.
- Brand metrics remain the most cited measure of campaign success at 80%, while sales metrics were rated as important by only 49%, despite sales and conversions being the top stated goal for media investment in 2026.
- Closed-loop measurement connecting video impressions to retail outcomes using retail media infrastructure remains an area of high interest but low current usage, indicating a gap between capability and execution.
- Digital brand lift studies remain the most used measurement tool for assessing video advertising effectiveness, while the use of Market Mix Modelling has increased compared with previous IAB Video State of the Nation surveys.
- Better cross-platform measurement remains the area ad buyers are most excited about in the continued growth and evolution of the video streaming ecosystem, cited by 59% of respondents, followed by improved targeting and personalisation.
The IAB Australia Video Advertising State of the Nation 2026 Report was developed by the IAB Australia Video Council and is based on a survey of 78 advertising agency decision makers conducted in April 2026. It is the sixth annual IAB Australia Video Advertising State of the Nation survey conducted by IAB Australia.
The most recent IAB Australia Internet Advertising Expenditure Report prepared by PWC noted that video advertising in Australia reached $5.4 billion in 2025, growing 19.8% year on year and accounting for 29% of total online advertising investment.
The IAB Australia Video Advertising Council was formed in 2014 to help support the fast-growing, multi-platform ecosystem. The Council collaborates on projects in relation to advertising standards, best practice, creative and research of streaming ads in all environments across consumer screens. It has developed a range of resources to support industry understanding of measurement, ad formats and ad buying including most recently the Video Measurement Framework.