February 8, 2025

Six out of 10 digital marketers track CO2 emissions, a new study from Good-Loop for Climate Week finds a lack of sustainability training is stalling progress to reduce the carbon footprint of digital advertising.

NEW YORK — More than three-quarters of marketers think the ad industry isn’t doing enough to address the carbon footprint of digital advertising, according to new research released for Climate Week NYC by ad platform led by purpose. Good-Loop.

The new report, which looked at how Adland deals with the environmental impact of their digital ads, found that while six out of 10 advertisers say they currently track the emissions generated by their digital ads, 76% felt the industry should do more to address the carbon costs of online ad campaigns.

As the digital ad ecosystem becomes more complex and fragmented – driven primarily by the energy needed to support the rise of programmatic advertising – its negative impact on the environment has also increased.

A typical online ad campaign emits 5.4 tons of carbon (source: Good-Loop) – about a third of the US consumer annually, while 1M video impressions have the same carbon footprint as someone flying from Boston to London and back (source. : Scope3).

To help understand how the ad industry is dealing with the environmental impact of their digital ad campaigns – including challenges faced and plans for future action – Good-Loop, a company that helps advertisers to measure, reduce and offset the carbon footprint of their online ads, surveyed over 400 digital marketers in the US and UK.

Findings from the study “Carbon Counting: How US Marketers Are Facing the Climate Crisis in Adland” includes:

  • Nine out of every 10 (87%) marketers believe the digital ad industry has a responsibility to reduce carbon emissions
  • 76% of marketers say Adland should do more to help reduce carbon emissions
  • 61% of US marketers now track the carbon cost of their digital marketing campaigns. However, 56% still rely on approximate numbers or calculations. There is also a lack of standardization, with both independent and in-house solutions widely used
  • 51% say their organization plans to reach net zero in digital advertising at some point, but only 24% have set targets and only 2% say they have reached net zero
  • Seven out of every 10 (69%) brand marketers and more than half (54%) of agency marketers believe there are not enough sustainability education/training programs

Amy Williams, CEO and founder of leading ad platform Good-Loop, said: “This research confirms what we already know to be true – people in our industry care deeply about solving our problem. of carbon and make advertising a positive force in the world. But to reach ad net zero, we now need more education across the industry and we need to work together to develop universal sustainable standards, to guide future best practices. Green-Loop’s Green advertising solutions are supported by a strong, open source approach. Our goal is to provide a clear, transparent understanding of digital carbon advertising footprint to empower agencies and brands to offset their impact in the short term and implement positive climate action in the long term.

To download the study, click HERE.

About Good-Loop
Good-Loop is a purpose-led advertising platform with a mission to make advertising better for consumers, brands and the planet. The B Corps-certified company builds turnkey products for advertisers that work well at scale. Good-Loop’s carbon-neutral advertising formats drive engagement by converting people’s attention to donations for good causes around the world. The company’s proprietary Green Media Technology also enables advertisers to measure and reduce the carbon footprint of their digital advertising. The company, with offices in London, Edinburgh and New York, is on a mission to make the connection between brands and consumers more meaningful by delivering respectful ads that bring real impact to social and environmental, while also driving significant business and brand improvement for advertisers. . The company has raised over $6M for charities such as Save the Children, WaterAid, Make-A-Wish, NSPCC and WWF. Clients include L’Oreal, Nike, Unilever, Levi’s, Adidas, Volvo and Mondelez. In February 2022, the company closed a Series A funding round of $6.1M, led by New York-based investment fund, Quaestus Capital Management (QCM), with additional support from Scottish Enterprise, impact investor SIS Ventures and European ad tech fund First Party Kapital, bringing the total investment in ad tech for the promising platform to $8.2M (£6m) since it was formed in 2016.

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