On 7 July 2026, IAB Europe published its annual AdEx Benchmark report in Brussels: Europe's digital advertising market grew 10.5% in 2025, reaching 131 billion euros. Behind that figure lies a clear shift towards social video and retail media, also confirmed by the latest Belgian data. Here is what it means for how you allocate your advertising budgets.
1. The European market keeps accelerating
This report, the twentieth in the series, aggregates data from 30 national markets. It is the most comprehensive view of digital advertising investment in Europe. The market added 12.5 billion euros in 2025, against a backdrop of sluggish economic growth and trade uncertainty. For IAB Europe's chief economist, Daniel Knapp, this points to a structural shift: digital advertising is becoming a communications expense, sales infrastructure and shopfront all at once. Western European markets, including France, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands, grew by around 10%, while Nordic and Baltic markets stayed closer to flat.
2. Social video, the most dynamic format
Video grew 19.6% to reach 34 billion euros. For the first time, it accounts for more than half of all display investment in Europe. Social video, native to social platforms, is the most dynamic format in the report, up 25.7%. Social advertising overall grew 19.2%, to 35.5 billion euros. In Belgium, this shift is confirmed by local figures: LinkedIn's advertising reach rose from 49.4% to 69.2% of internet users aged 18 and over between 2025 and 2026, according to the We Are Social/Manochi study. LinkedIn now matches Facebook at the top of Belgian ad reach. Short video now accounts for more than 40% of the time Belgians spend on social media.
3. Retail media crosses a threshold
Retail media, advertising placed on retailer sites and sales platforms, grew 16.7% to reach 13.3 billion euros. It now exceeds 10% of total digital ad spend in Europe. This growth reflects demand for first-party data and environments directly linked to the point of purchase. More established channels keep growing too, but at a more moderate pace: display is up 12.5%, paid search up 8.8%, and classifieds up 6.5%.
4. What this means for Belgian SMEs
Three concrete adjustments stand out for SMEs. First, test short video formats on Meta, TikTok and LinkedIn rather than relying solely on static visuals. Second, reassess LinkedIn's place in your media mix: its advertising reach has caught up with Facebook's in Belgium, a strong signal for B2B campaigns. Third, if you sell online, explore a retail media test alongside your usual search and social campaigns. Rebalancing a budget does not mean dropping paid search, but giving it a more measured share.
The AI lens, humans first
Adapting one campaign into several short video formats, adjusting bids continuously across five platforms, or spotting the right moment to test retail media: these are tasks where AI excels. But deciding how much budget to shift towards social video, weighing reach against conversion, or choosing the right retail media partners for your sector remains a matter of expert judgment. That is our stance: AI executes. Expertise decides, and watches.
This week
Take stock of how your ad budget is currently split between search, social and video. Test a short video format, fifteen to twenty seconds, on at least one network. If you sell online, identify a retail media opportunity in your sector.
At Vistalaro, campaign management (Vistalaro Reach) already integrates short video and native formats on Meta, LinkedIn, Google, TikTok and Amazon. How budgets are split across channels, and the place of each in your strategy, is the role of Vistalaro Pilot: a dedicated senior marketer who steers these trade-offs with you, over time.
Are your ad budgets in the right place?
Let's review them together, without jargon, and identify the priority adjustments for your SME.
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