Top Programmatic Advertising Trends, Stats & Insights for 2025
It’s 2025, and programmatic advertising is no longer the future, it’s the standard. Over 90% of global digital display ads are now bought and sold programmatically, according to eMarketer. But despite its dominance, many advertisers and publishers feel like they’re running on a treadmill: privacy laws tighten, third-party cookies vanish, and yesterday’s best practice is today’s blind spot.
Whether you’re an advertiser trying to reach your audience without invading their privacy, or a publisher watching CPMs fluctuate like crypto, there’s one thing you can’t afford: falling behind.
Let’s explore the trends, technologies, and stats shaping programmatic in 2025.
Latest Programmatic Advertising Stats (2025)
Here’s the data that’s guiding decision-makers this year:
Global Market Insights
Programmatic ad spend reached $595B in 2024 and is forecast to hit nearly $800B by 2028.
(Statista, 2025)North America accounts for 44% of all global programmatic ad spend, maintaining its leadership position.
(Statista, 2025)90% of all display ad buying is now programmatic, up from just 51.7% a decade ago.
(eMarketer, 2025)
CTV & Video Advertising Stats
CTV ad spend is projected to hit $32.6B in the U.S. in 2025, growing 13% YoY.
(Statista, 2025)CTV now commands 75% of its ad inventory programmatically, making it a dominant performance channel.
(IAB, 2025)Digital video will account for 60% of total video ad spend in 2025, surpassing linear TV for the first time in 2024.
(IAB, 2025)Digital video ad spend hit $64B in 2024 and is projected to grow to $72B in 2025.
(IAB, 2025)
Contextual, DOOH & Retail Media
Contextual advertising to reach $562.1B by 2030, with nearly 50% of CMOs planning to increase their budgets in 2025.
(Statista, March 2025)prDOOH adoption is rising: 27% of marketers used it in 2023–2024, while 35% plan to add it by end of 2025.
(Statista, 2024)Programmatic accounts for 53% of US DOOH campaigns in 2024, up 25 points YoY.
(Statista, 2024)Retail media will grow from $114B in 2022 to over $176B in 2028, with Amazon alone contributing $38B in ad revenue.
(Statista, 2025)
Performance & Budget Concerns
Brand safety (58%) and cookie deprecation (52%) top concerns for programmatic experts in 2025.
(Statista, 2025)Display CPMs fell by 33% YoY in Jan 2025, and video CPMs dropped 39.2%, reflecting market volatility.
(DIgiday, 2025)45% of publishers expect a significant revenue drop post-cookie, especially those reliant on Google Search traffic.
(eMarketer, 2025)
Mobile, Social & Generational Advertising Trends
The global mobile ad market is projected to reach $1.3T by 2030, growing at a 15.3% CAGR.
(Global Industry Analysts, 2025)72% of marketers plan to increase programmatic investment in 2025, especially across CTV, social, and audio.
(IAB Europe, 2025)Younger generations dominate ad engagement:
57% of Gen Z and 50% of Millennials say ads influence their purchases.
65% of all adults prefer seeing "real-looking" people in ads.
56% of Gen Z and 53% of Millennials engage more with tailored ads.
(YouGov, 2025)
Social video expected to surpass all channels, reaching $27.2B, outpacing online video ($18.6B) and CTV ($26.6B).
(IAB, 2025)OOH works best with younger audiences: 54% of Gen Z and 53% of Millennials search for products after seeing billboard ads.
(YouGov, 2025)
10 Key Programmatic Advertising Trends for 2025
1. First-Party Data Is the New Oil
With cookies on their way out, brands are doubling down on collecting data they own. Loyalty programs, web sign-ups, and app behaviors are being piped into CDPs and clean rooms to build accurate, privacy-safe profiles.
The challenge? Many businesses are realizing they don’t actually own the relationship with their audience, they borrowed it from Meta or Google. That’s changing fast.
2. Retail Media Is Eating Everyone’s Lunch
Amazon started it. Walmart, Instacart, PayPal, and even Uber followed. Retail media is now one of the fastest-growing programmatic channels, offering advertisers high-intent audiences right at the point of purchase.
For brands, this is a dream: ads where the sale happens. For traditional publishers, it’s pressure to differentiate.
3. CTV Is No Longer Just for Brand Awareness
CTV advertising has graduated from top-of-funnel fame to full-funnel performance. With clickable QR codes, cross-device targeting, and precision measurement, streaming ads are driving real outcomes.
More brands are shifting TV budgets into programmatic platforms and expecting ROI, not just reach.
4. AI Is Quietly Running the Show
AI doesn’t just optimize bids anymore. It forecasts which impressions are most likely to convert, adjusts strategies on the fly, and helps tailor creative to the viewer’s context.
The result? Campaigns that get smarter in real-time. But it also means marketers need to shift from micromanaging to trusting the machine with oversight.
5. Creatives Are Getting Smarter, Too
One-size-fits-all is officially dead. With dynamic creative optimization (DCO), advertisers can deliver thousands of versions of a message, changing product, CTA, or even tone based on who’s watching.
This is no longer optional. Static ads simply don’t perform in a hyper-personalized ecosystem.
6. SSP + DSP = Full Stack Simplicity
As transparency becomes non-negotiable, more companies are merging the supply and demand sides of the ecosystem. The goal? Fewer intermediaries, better reporting, and less media budget lost in the middle.
Expect to see more platforms branding themselves as “end-to-end.”
7. Contextual Targeting Is Back and Better
Marketers burned by cookie chaos are turning to contextual with fresh eyes. But this isn’t your 2010s keyword matching, today’s systems use NLP, computer vision, and AI to understand why content resonates, not just what it says.
It feels respectful to users and smart for performance.
8. Consent Is Not a Checkbox. It’s a Strategy.
Compliance has matured from pop-ups to full-stack strategies. Consent flows, preference centers, geo-based customization, it’s all part of the media plan now.
Brands that treat privacy like a feature, not a footnote, are gaining trust and outperforming those that don’t.
9. From CPMs to “Attention Minutes”
Impressions are cheap. Attention is not. In 2025, buyers are looking beyond viewability into engagement time, audio playback, scroll depth, and more.
If your ad loads but no one watches, it didn’t happen. That’s the new mindset.
10. Programmatic Audio and DOOH Are Mainstream
From Spotify to subway stations, audio and digital out-of-home are now plugged into DSPs. This allows brands to reach consumers mid-commute, in the gym, or walking down the street with personalized messaging at scale.
These channels are no longer experimental, they’re essential.
What These Trends Mean for You
If you’re a publisher:
Build first-party data strategies now, not later.
Context is your superpower, make your inventory work harder.
Don’t rely solely on open exchanges. Diversify with CTV, native, and programmatic audio.
If you’re a brand or advertiser:
Invest in real-time, AI-powered creative tools.
Test attention metrics, not just impressions, to evaluate performance.
Lean into privacy-safe solutions that earn user trust. It’s not only ethical, it performs better.
FAQs on Programmatic Trends
Is programmatic advertising still effective in 2025?
More than ever. But only if you adapt to AI, attention metrics, and new formats like audio/CTV.
What replaces third-party cookies?
First-party data, contextual targeting, clean rooms, and universal IDs like UID2 or RampID.
What’s the biggest opportunity in 2025?
Combining creative and media in real time, especially across retail and streaming environments.
Is programmatic safe?
Yes, with brand safety, fraud protection, and transparent supply paths in place.
Conclusion
Programmatic in 2025 is the art and science of delivering the right message, to the right person, at the right moment, with the right data controls in place.
Those who embrace innovation, respect privacy, and measure attention, not just impressions, will thrive.
As a full-scale programmatic ecosystem, we help publishers and advertisers succeed across every touchpoint:
SSP. DSP. Ad Exchange. Unified in one transparent platform.
Mobile. In-App. CTV. Video. We cover it all, globally.
ML-driven bidding. Advanced analytics. Every campaign, optimized end-to-end.
👉 Let’s talk: https://blasto.ai/#contacts
