Published by Sue Johns-Chapman
Published Date 21.10.2026 The paid media landscape never stands still. This year alone, we’ve seen Meta Ads integrate with Claude, Meta roll out ad-level placement controls, conversion ads arrive in ChatGPT, and Google introduce the Business Agent for leads. Keeping up is part of the weekly routine, and for teams working across Europe it’s even more demanding.
We know the pressure is on. Audiences are scrolling faster and expect relevance and seamless experiences across devices and platforms. Add different languages, privacy regulations, platform adoption and buying behaviours from one market to the next, and the challenge multiplies. Paid and performance media is now a connected system. Omnichannel approaches are on the rise, and so are the local insights that make campaigns resonate with audiences country by country.
After two decades of running business awards, one of the things we’re proudest of at Don’t Panic Projects is that we’re embedded in the industries we celebrate. With the help of our judges and entrants, we pay attention to what’s shifting, what’s emerging, and what the old categories no longer capture.
That’s why we’re renaming the European Paid Media Awards to the European Paid & Performance Media Awards.
This isn’t a rebrand for its own sake. It’s a name change that reflects where the market is right now and our best-informed view of where it’s heading. Our aim is to celebrate the best in paid media and performance marketing across Europe as it looks today.
Performance is not a subset of paid; it’s become the whole conversation
Client expectations have changed fundamentally. Search behaviour has broadened across social, chat and shopping platforms, and AI now takes as much managing as a human team member. ROI has always been essential. Now it sits at the start of the pitch and the brief, and you can expect it to be examined thoroughly at the end. The emphasis on SMART outcomes, conversion-led thinking and demonstrable performance is reshaping how the best agencies, brand teams and freelancers work across the continent. The new name acknowledges that reality.
New categories, built around the work that’s happening
We’ve introduced a range of new categories to make sure the right work gets recognised. You can find the [full list of categories here], but here’s a taste of what’s new:
- Standout Paid Media Performance
- Standout Social Performance
- Standout Shopping Ads Performance
- D2C Campaign of the Year
- Retail/FMCG Campaign of the Year
- Digital OOH Campaign of the Year
- Standout YouTube Performance
- Standout Meta Ads Performance
These categories were shaped by conversations with judges, by watching where innovation is happening, and by listening to the people doing the work every day.
Awards for everyone in the industry
Historically, paid media awards have been a home for agencies, and that community will always be central to what we do. This year, we’re making a deliberate push to open the doors wider.
If you’re a brand-side team running paid and performance campaigns in-house, these awards are for you. If you’re a freelancer or independent specialist doing exceptional work, these awards are absolutely for you too.
Some of the most innovative paid and performance work in Europe isn’t coming from large agencies. It’s coming from lean in-house teams with tight budgets and sharp instincts, from specialists with deep expertise in a single channel, and from teams who’ve mastered the art of running one campaign across multiple markets. It’s time they joined the agencies on this platform.
Staying current is part of the job
We want to be transparent about something: this evolution reflects a broader commitment we have as awards experts and organisers. We don’t set categories once and leave them to run. We continuously monitor the market, tracking developments in AI-driven campaign optimisation, automation, new channel capabilities, and the shifting dynamics between agencies, brands and specialist talent.
Our judges are active practitioners, and their feedback directly shapes what we recognise and how we define excellence. We take that process seriously.
Awards should reflect the industry as it is, not as it was three years ago. That’s the standard we hold ourselves to.
Entries are open
Whether you’re an agency, a brand team or a freelancer working across paid search, social, shopping, OOH or performance media, and whether your work ran in one market or ten: if you’re proud of it, we want to see it.
Learn more by downloading your Free Entry Guide
The European Paid and Performance Media Awards and UK Paid and Performance Media Awards align with the Search Awards series, including the UK Search Awards and European Search Awards.
