Executive Summary

US advertisers will spend more than $47 billion buying digital display ads programmatically this year. And now, programmatic is starting to take hold for audio, out-of-home and television advertising as well.

• Which nondisplay channels do ad buyers want to access programmatically? Television, out-of-home (OOH) and digital audio. For some, it’s about streamlining the increasingly complicated buying process for these traditional channels. For many, it’s about leveraging greater audience targeting and ad measurement capabilities to be more targeted with these reach vehicles.
• Where does programmatic audio stand today? For those already primed on programmatic, audio is a natural next frontier for extending one’s holistic audience view. Measurement remains murky as buyers work to bridge the digital and physical worlds and move off clickthroughs and views, which are meaningless for audio.
• What about programmatic and OOH advertising? Traditional OOH advertisers see programmatic as a way to simplify an increasingly complicated ad buying process. It’s also being applied to digital out-of-home (DOOH). Brands coming straight from digital often lack the necessary creative assets and struggle to shift from digital’s one-to-one audience metrics to OOH’s one-to-many.
• What’s holding programmatic TV back? We predict just 2.5% of all US linear TV ad spending, or $1.75 billion, will flow via programmatic channels this year. By 2020, programmatic will account for 6.8% of all linear TV ad dollars, or $4.73 billion. Interest is there, but the infrastructure and legacy ways of transacting a $70 billion industry are keeping programmatic buying from skyrocketing in the next 24 months.

WHAT’S IN THIS REPORT? This report looks at the shift to programmatic advertising within digital audio, OOH and TV advertising. It highlights the considerations for audience, ad creative and measurement media buyers should know as they move ahead with programmatic in each of these areas.

KEY STAT: By 2020, nearly $5 billion in TV ad spending will transact via automated means.