Programmatic in 2018: Mobile Makes Up 53% of Spend by Device, While Video Ads Account for 51% of Spend by Format

Programmatic in 2018: Mobile Makes Up 53% of Spend by Device, While Video Ads Account for 51% of Spend by Format

For the first time, mobile and video have surpassed desktop and display banners in global programmatic spend.

What this means for marketers: The trend of mobile and video making up a majority of programmatic ad spend shows maturation of the industry, as well as a continuing shift in consumer behavior. Marketers are beginning to move away from reliance on desktop cookies and towards more prominent ad formats like video through automation.

While growth has slowed slightly from 2017 to 2018, programmatic investment will only continue to grow in the years to come. What is currently a $34 billion global market in 2018 will grow to $60 billion by 2022 as more Audio, Over-the-Top (OTT) & Out of Home inventory becomes available programmatically.

Another sign of programmatic ‘growing up’ is that Private Marketplaces (1 to 1 auction between known publisher and a selected group of advertisers) have grown 21% to $13.5 billion from 2017 to 2018. PMPs allow brands to be in more premium and brand safe content while combating fraud, which is a good thing for everyone from marketers to the agencies and publishers they work with.