Programmatic continues to grow in UK market despite concerns

Despite recent negative press focusing on brand safety and transparency concerns, programmatic ad spending has continued to rise in the UK, with strong growth predicted for next few years, according to the latest forecasts by eMarketer.

By the end of 2017, advertisers will have spent an estimated £3.4bn on programmatic trading, up 23.5 per cent year-on-year, with programmatic spending now representing 79 per cent of all UK digital display ad spending. That market share is expected to grow to 84.5 per cent by 2019.

Mobile remains a major driver of programmatic’s growth in the UK, accounting for 78 per cent of total programmatic digital display ad spending this year. Numbers for desktop, meanwhile, are declining, both proportionally and in real terms. Desktop now accounts for just 22 per cent of programmatic ad spending, or £743.8m, and is expected to fall to £609.5m by 2019. Over the next two years, mobile’s share of programmatic spending will climb to 86.5 per cent, and desktop will fall to 13.5 per cent.

“The programmatic ecosystem is growing because it’s maturing,” said Bill Fisher, senior analyst at eMarketer. “This maturation is leading to better practices, better behaviour and better transparency. Making everybody in the chain accountable is the next step in cleaning up programmatic’s image further.

“For example, the recent Ads.txt initiative from IAB Tech Lab is one such step. This tool essentially allows publishers to publicly declare the companies they authorise to sell their digital inventory. There will be more initiatives to come, and as they come online, greater levels of trust will be placed in trading digital display inventory via programmatic pipes.”