What's Coming in 2025: Programmatic Predictions from Escalax Team
Higher efficiency & safety, Supply side turn stronger, user-
centric and a more sustainable environment
In 2025, programmatic advertising will be more innovative, data-driven and consumer-
centric than ever before. There will be greater efficiency, security, more bidding power,
user-centric and more sustainable environments.
Automation, artificial intelligence and privacy will enable brands to connect with their
audiences in a more efficient, secure, respectful and sustainable way. In Europe, the
programmatic market is estimated to account for 70% of total digital spend and is
expected to reach 89% by 2029. Programmatic buying is increasingly strategic to reach
controlled audiences, scale campaign planning and increase campaign effectiveness.
Although you could talk for hours about the programmatic universe and multiple topics
and innovations, here are a few relevant ones:
Privacy-first: User-centric key topic
2024 has been a bittersweet year for privacy, as expectations of dramatic change did
not materialise and this led to changes in business strategies and priorities.
Programmatic advertising will progress on the way to become more privacy-focus, safe
and effective.
Privacy Sandbox continues to make progress, but we should not forget the increased
restrictions in Safari or Firefox.
But First-party data and contextual targeting will be key in 2025.
CTV and video: A sure bet
Following the trend towards the proliferation of streaming platforms, smart TVs, etc.
The shift from traditional TV consumption to mobile devices will provide us with growth
in OTT and CTV digital channels.
According to Forbes, 99% of US households currently subscribe to at least one
streaming service.
By 2025, advertising spend is estimated to exceed $30 billion only in the US!.
The relationship between brands and users is changing and CTV is one of the key topics
for this year. Greater transparency in measurement (reach and targeting), the
continued shift from traditional TV to digital platforms and the extension of our
presence to digital devices are shaping this reality.
More interactive and shoppable CTV formats are expected to proliferate during the
year, helping to increase engagement throughout the MK funnel.
DOOH: The King of Innovation
Another strong trend for 2025. A challenging but very attractive transition from OOH to
DOOH (digital out-of-home advertising). Digitisation, creativity and technological
innovation to bring brands, advertisers and users together.
Data estimates that OOH investment will reach USD 68 billion by 2029, of which DOOH
will account for 44%. DOOH is forecast to exceed USD 1 billion by 2025.
IA: the power of no limits
Perhaps the most critical aspect for me is its enormous potential for control and its
impact on greenhouse gas emissions.
AI will continue to be talked about and become more and more part of our business
fabric. It will improve the optimisation of bidding, attribution and campaign measurement
processes, increase the speed and efficiency of creative design and improve internal
programmatic platforms.
This in turn will require a training plan for AM teams and traders to become more
efficient with these new capabilities.
SUSTAINABILITY: Our industry green challenge
There is a growing concern for a change in our society and in business to be ‘greener’.
A different way of making decisions by management that involves all levels of the
organisation. Decisions that are not profitable in the short term, but are necessary to bring about
change. The key is measurement to reach a market standard and reduce or at least
compensate.
Decisions on hardware (data centres, service providers, etc.) and software (platforms,
optimisation/bidding processes, green marketplaces) are critical, but will take time.
THE POWER OF SUPPLY: Time of reveal its weight in programmatic chain
This year will be challenging for the supply side, SSPs and publishers, who will gain
more traction and determine the programmatic landscape.
In a complex ecosystem, tools are needed to find the right audience. It is a challenge
that curation will bring to us again, this time from the supply side. Greater
transparency and quality control of inventory.
Originally a function of the DSPs, it is now an alliance with the media.
In addition, media are opening up to more innovative formats, especially in video and
TV, first-party data and inventory optimisation through SSPs, which are increasingly
able to offer them greater transparency and scalability.
BRAND SAFETY & FRAUD PREVENTION: The guardians of the ecosystem
Brand safety and fraud continues to be a ¨billion dollar¨ focus for our industry.. . A few
years ago we were talking about $49 billion by 2025.
One of the challenges for our industry this year is to have powerful verification tools
and an advanced control approach to ensure real users. This is not just about loss of
campaign effectiveness, but brand damage (which is much harder to measure).
OMNICHANNEL STRATEGY: A cherry on top of the cake
This is an exciting challenge for 2025, as advertisers will be empowered by AI, SSP and
DSP to coordinate campaigns across multiple platforms under a robust and
coordinated experience.
Omni-channel strategies will help create a unified and well-orchestrated brand
experience.
The ability to unify across volume and multi-format SSPs is key to orchestrating and
scaling an omni-channel strategy.
