The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has released a report aimed at helping marketers, agencies and publishers better understand user-generated content and social media platforms.

User-Generated Content and Social Media Advertising Overview (full report at www.iab.net/ugcplatform), published in advance of the IAB’s June 2 leadership forum in New York, covers the latest ad opps, innovations and case studies in UGC.

The 17-page report outlines the history and present landscape of UGC and social media with sections devoted to review sites, blogs, wikis, online ad networks, social networks, widgets, overlay video ads, custom communities and branding wrappers. Impacts on the advertising landscape are explored along with an exploration of risks.

The overview chronicles case studies such as Adidas’ soccer community on MySpace, Pepto-Bismol’s ‘Be the Next Pepto Star’ channel on YouTube and other experiences and experiments by Coca Cola, Ray Ban, the US Army, Burger King and Skittles.

‘User-generated content and social media are among the most innovative and tangible ways digital media have transformed the advertising experience for consumers and marketers,’ says IAB president and CEO Randall Rothenberg.

‘This report describes opportunities for marketers to marshal the enhanced level of consumer engagement now that online audiences have taken the driver’s seat, acting as both consumers and creators of content,’ says Rothenberg.