IAB Ups Ad Spend Forecast, Google Introduces AI-Powered MMM Tool

The IAB released an updated ad spend outlook on Thursday, forecasting a 12.3% growth this year, up from its January prediction of 9.5%. The increase is largely due to a stronger-than-expected first half and a clearer read on the economy.

The largest jumps in predicted spend were in social media and CTV, at 1.9% and 1.8%, respectively. Commerce media came in third place, up 1.5%, thanks in part to AI's ability to bridge the gap between discovery and purchase.

However, advertisers are still grappling with how to measure the effectiveness of AI-driven customer journeys, with nearly half saying that their biggest measurement challenge is comparing these journeys to traditional ones.