• by Joe Mandese , 9 hours ago

Following an updated ad forecast released this morning by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) -- and based on a survey of advertisers and agency media buyers late last year -- I also received updated long-term estimates for U.S. ad spending beyond 2026 from Madison and Wall. 

As a result, I'm updating MediaPost's recently rebooted industry forecast consensus tracker.

As you may recall, our old composite was an average of the major agency holding company ad forecast reports and updates, but following the demise of Interpublic's and Publicis Media's Zenith public reporting, we are now including other reputable ad industry forecast sources, including Madison and Wall, Guideline, PQ Media, etc.

The consensus for this year's U.S. ad growth rises 1.6 points to +8.8% from the previous composite.

In related news, Madison and Wallthis morning began publishing ad category-level projections for both U.S. and Canadian ad spending (see U.S. category chart below).