TOTAL PROGRAMMATIC REVENUE GREW BY 33 PERCENT IN 2018 TO €16.7BN
ADOPTION OF ADS.TXT STILL LOW AMONGST BUY-SIDE, DESPITE HIGH PUBLISHER ADOPTION & ONGOING AD-FRAUD CONCERNS
11th September 2019, Cologne: IAB Europe, the leading European-level industry association for the digital marketing and advertising ecosystem, today announced the launch of its annual ‘Attitudes to Programmatic Advertising’ report, alongside its programmatic market-sizing research. Now in its fifth year, the report is the most comprehensive analysis of the European programmatic landscape, covering strategies and adoption trends, drivers of and barriers to growth, and forecasts for the future for 31 markets.
The latest research reveals that programmatic revenue grew by 33 percent in 2018, topping €16.7bn, with more than 70 percent of display and more than 50 percent of video now traded via programmatic methods. Social media buying dominates programmatic, but when this medium is removed the market saw impressive growth of 26.6 percent, to a total of €5.5bn.
Key findings in the ‘Attitudes to Programmatic Advertising’ report include:
Announcing the report, Townsend Feehan, CEO, IAB Europe said, “The programmatic industry is experiencing a period of rapid transformation, to ensure it continues to provide a safe environment for advertisers, a positive experience for consumers and addresses the demands made by new regulation throughout the world. In the context of this evolution, it is encouraging to see the majority of stakeholders expecting an increase in programmatic investments of up to 80 percent over the next 12 months. In particular, we expect digital out-of-home, audio and connected TV to be areas of growth. It is clear however that talent, the low buy-side adoption of ads.txt, and supply chain transparency remain impediments to this growth and these are areas we will be addressing with our members.”
A key finding within the report is that whilst many of the challenges the industry has faced - particularly around ad fraud and brand safety - remain an ongoing concern, the buy-side has not yet adopted ads.txt and the mobile-specific apps-ads.txt in significant numbers. Only 6 percent of advertisers and 26 percent of agencies are buying the majority of their inventory ads.txt verified.
Amongst publishers, ads.txt adoption is much higher, with 56 percent of them selling the majority of their inventory with an ads.txt file attached. This suggests that the ads.txt inventory exists but more buyer education and adoption is required.
Commenting on this insight, David Goddard, VP Global Programmatic Strategy, BBC Global News, said, “I hope the release of this year’s ‘Attitudes to Programmatic Advertising’ report will be the catalyst for greater levels of app-ads.txt adoption for publishers, increasing the volume of inventory that is verified, whilst increasing buy-side awareness of this simple, yet effective tool to tackle transparency and quality concerns.”
The study also reveals a clear shift to hybrid models for programmatic trading as the number of advertisers with in-house operations overtakes the number outsourcing to an agency, alongside an increase in the number using external consultancies. Advertisers using consultancies for programmatic buying grew to 7 percent in 2019, from zero percent reported in 2018. In addition, 52 percent of advertisers cite that they are considering taking programmatic in-house in the next 12 months whilst 50 percent claim they plan to use an external consultancy.
Download the reports below
IAB Europe Attitudes to Programmatic Advertising Report 2019
IAB Europe European Programmatic Ad Spent Report 2018
EDITOR NOTES
Now in its fifth year, the Attitudes to Programmatic Advertising study has become an industry benchmark to show how programmatic advertising attitudes, adoption and strategies are evolving. The survey attracted respondents who command significant volumes of advertising supply and demand. Over 70 percent of the respondents across advertisers, agencies and publishers manage annual advertising budgets of €1m or above. For the first time, IAB Europe surveyed ad tech vendors in the 2019 study. The survey asked about the following areas: How much programmatic is used for different formats (display, mobile and video); drivers and barriers to programmatic investment; operational models used for programmatic; measurement and data strategy; the future of programmatic investment.
The report, written by industry experts from IAB Europe’s membership, forms part of a comprehensive programme of pan- European educational and guidance outputs published by the IAB Europe Programmatic Trading Committee.
The IAB Europe 2018 Programmatic Market Sizing numbers distinguish between programmatic including social and platform self-serve; and programmatic as inventory traded using OpenRTB only. This is due to varying national market measurement practices and the need to provide a harmonised European number.
About IAB Europe
IAB Europe is the European-level association for the digital marketing and advertising ecosystem. Through its membership of National IABs and media, technology and marketing companies, its mission is to lead political representation and promote industry collaboration to deliver frameworks, standards and industry programmes that enable business to thrive in the European market. For further information please visit https://www.stg-iabeurope-iabeuropeold.kinsta.cloud/
For more information, please contact:
Marie-Clare Puffett, IAB Europe (puffett@iabeurope.eu / +44 7973 836 917)
Helen Mussard, IAB Europe (helen@iabeurope.eu / +44 7399 919 594)
Victoria Johnson, Too Many Dreams (victoria@toomanydreams.ltd / +44 7939 594 637)
Stephen Jenkins, Too Many Dreams (stephen@toomanydreams.ltd / +44 7957 803 685)
