According to the report - AdEx Benchmark 2016 – released late last year, programmatic advertising continued successful growth with an €8.1 billion share of the European markets. This represents a growth of almost 43% from 2015’s figure of €5.7 billion. The report reveals that 50.1% of Europe’s display ad revenue was being handled by programmatic advertising.

One of the most dramatic increases was to be found in programmatic video, which grew by 155% and resulted in programmatic accounting for over 45% of online video advertising spending. Mobile, unsurprisingly, is at the forefront of programmatic advertising viewing with 65% during 2016.

Another area where programmatic advertising has grown can be seen in the breakdown of regional Europe. Western Europe demonstrates €7.5 billion in programmatic revenue, and interestingly only €0.6 billion for the rest of Central and Eastern Europe. However, the report shows that the Central and Eastern European programmatic advertising revenue figures over the past two years represent 53% growth year-on-year; a significant increase.

Concerns remain over brand-safety

Some industry experts have voiced concerns over brand-safety in programmatic advertising, and many questions have been raised about the introduction of tougher standards and regulations. One expert recently said, ‘Programmatic needs rules and should be about automation—not simply be automatic. Publishers should focus on premium video content, where there is a direct relationship between the buyer and seller, and transactions take place in a saleable, brand-safe environment.’

The fact remains that most online programmatic advertising professionals understand that it is a ‘risky business’ outside of the relative safety of a managed environment. Most agree that improved standards are indeed needed, but also give the nod to the broadcasters themselves in that they are ultimately responsible for delivering quality, ethical advertising for both the viewer and the advertiser. Length of ad is also a touchy subject, and some industry broadcasters know that this can be a key element for both viewability and advertising.

The UK leads Europe in programmatic advertising

The UK continues to lead the way in European programmatic advertising, with estimated figures expected to reach £3.39 billion for the close of 2017, which would represent a whopping 23.5% increase from 2016 according to industry data.

Those figures would accurately present programmatic advertising with 79% of all UK digital display advertising spending. Based on current trending, market data analysts expect this to rise to 84.5% by the close of 2019.

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