Programmatic is driving growth in worldwide display ad spending

Automated channels are the de facto means of transacting digital ads. Advertisers worldwide took to programmatic quickly and were already spending over half (51.7%) of their display budgets programmatically in 2014, the earliest year we created a forecast for. Since then, programmatic has continually grown its share of display ad spending worldwide and is on track to reach 90.0% penetration next year.

Programmatic will effectively account for all growth in display ad spending for the foreseeable future. The global programmatic display ad market will increase by nearly $50 billion this year. But nonprogrammatic display ad spending will go up by just $1.63 billion. In other words, programmatic will account for 96.8% of new display ad dollars in 2025. That share will decrease slightly to 96.0% in 2026, the end of our forecast period. Advertisers’ growing appetite for AI-driven buying platforms will likely keep programmatic’s share of new display ad dollars high moving forward.

We forecast programmatic display ad spending for six major markets: Canada, China, France, Germany, the UK, and the US.

Programmatic display ad spending will grow the fastest in Western European countries this year. These markets are regaining momentum after inflation and an energy crisis depressed ad spending growth in 2022 and 2023. Meanwhile, Canada will see the slowest growth in programmatic display ad spending in 2025. Advertisers there are adjusting to a slumping economy and increased ad costs from the Digital Services Tax, which went into effect in June 2024.

Read the full report, Worldwide Programmatic Ad Spending 2025.