ISBA is the only body in the UK that enables advertisers to understand their industry and shape its future because it brings together a powerful community of marketers with common interests, empowers decision-making with knowledge and insight and gives a single voice to advocacy for the improvement of the industry.
Our purpose and principles
To create an advertising environment that is transparent, responsible and accountable; one that can be trusted by the public, by advertisers and by legislators.
ISBA will:
- Lead our members in creating an advertising environment that delivers positive social and economic impact
- Empower media, agency and digital supply chain relationships that deliver value for advertisers
- Deliver thought leadership, learning, advice and guidance, working with our community of members and with partners
Our Big Audacious Goal
- Pilot a world-first global prototype for cross-media measurement in 2021, driven by advertiser demand. Secure industry commitment to roll-out in 2022
If you'd like to know more about Origin, our cross-media measurement project, head to the website here.

Advocacy and representation
We have been leading progress in a number of vital areas for advertisers, including:
- Advancing a global first for accountable digital and cross-media measurement, in which advertisers, agencies, platforms and media owners are all taking an active stake;
- Leading the reform of the programmatic supply chain, on the back of our ground-breaking study with PwC, which examined the spending of 15 major advertisers with 12 premium publishers;
- Working with the World Federation of Advertisers and the Global Alliance for Responsible Media to create a sustainable and responsible digital media environment;
- Responding to the pandemic in 2020 on multiple fronts: working with broadcasters to create greater flexibility in trading; preventing government intervention in the use of keyword blocking; and developing provisions in industry production contracts to re-start advertising production;
- Shaping the industry response to the government's proposed advertising restrictions for products high in fat, sugar or salt.
Each of these is of critical importance to our members in growing their businesses and their brands.
In addition, we continue to engage with regulators and legislators on every subject that touches advertisers and marketers. From tackling online harms to embedding digital literacy, from promoting evidence-led policy solutions to addressing the issue of trust in our industry, we speak to policymakers with one voice on behalf of our members.

Our history
ISBA has been working for advertisers since 1891, when seven advertisers protesting dubious newspaper circulation figures got together. They needed to know how effective their advertising was and how many people were actually seeing the ads they paid for. The call was for "net sales" not pulp circulation.
The Advertisers’ Protection Society (APS), the original name of ISBA, was formally established in 1900, which makes ISBA the oldest advertiser organisation in the world.
The APS took it upon itself to work out the number of newspapers being sold and was subsequently taken to court, charged with libel. It won its case, setting the industry on the road to audited media measurement.
Key Dates
1900 |
The APS is formally established |
1920 |
The APS, became the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers |
1931 |
ISBA founded the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) |
1966 |
Together with the other bodies that made up the Advertising Association, ISBA helped form the Advertising Standards Authority to make self-regulation of the industry a reality. |
2002 |
ISBA were instrumental in encouraging the Government to extend the self-regulatory system to the broadcast arena. |
2003 |
ISBA is fundamental in introducing Contract Rights Renewal (CRR) to stop ITV abusing its dominant position with advertisers. |
2018 |
ISBA launched version two of the Media Services Framework which was updated after consultation with members and importantly the agencies. |
2020 |
The advertiser-funded ISBA Programmatic Supply Chain Transparency Study is launched, becoming the first study of its kind in the world. |
