Australian video ad spend rose 19% to 29% of market
According to the IAB Australia 2026 Video Advertising State of the Nation Report, marketers in Australia are increasing their spending on video advertising, with growth reaching 19% year-on-year for 2025, accounting for 29% of the total market. Despite economic anxieties, ad buyers are focusing on outcomes-based measurement and expect to increase investment in ad-supported streaming platforms and programmatic CTV, while also exploring AI for measurement and optimization. The report highlights a continuing need to align planning and measurement strategies across diverse video environments.
Key Takeaways
- Video advertising reached 29% of Australia’s total ad market in 2025, after 19% year-on-year growth.
- 48% of agency leaders named the economy their leading concern, ahead of cross-channel measurement and AI at 41% each.
- 71% of ad buyers expect to increase spend on ad-supported subscription streaming platforms in 2026, while 46% plan to increase programmatic CTV investment.
- 50% of respondents said frequency control is the top requirement when buying CTV and OTT programmatically.
- 54% of respondents are regularly using or testing retailer first-party shopper data and CTV commerce integrations for video campaigns.
Why It Matters
Marketers are still spending into video, but the report shows the buying criteria are tightening around accountability, frequency control and outcomes measurement. That matters across BVOD, social video, AVOD and ad-supported streaming platforms because 25% of agencies still rarely or never unify effectiveness measurement across the same screens, even though 9 in 10 say they have a unified planning strategy. The ecosystem signal to watch is whether the industry’s measurement work closes that gap, especially as 46% plan to raise programmatic CTV spend and 71% expect to spend more on ad-supported streaming in 2026.
Read full article at iabaustralia.com.au
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