Programmatic advertising continues its remarkable growth trajectory, with global spend reaching $595 billion in 2024 and projected to approach $779 billion in 2028. In the United States alone, programmatic now accounts for more than 90% of digital display ad dollars and is forecast to see double-digit growth through 2026.
While, as predicted, 2024's growth was partly fueled by election-year advertising, the sustained expansion year-to-date for 2025 reflects programmatic's increasing dominance across all digital channels.
This growth is driven by technological advancements in AI, the evolution of contextual targeting solutions in response to privacy changes, and the continued diversification of programmatic formats beyond traditional display.
In this article, we'll break down some of key 2025 trends within programmatic advertising operations that Ad Ops leaders should consider as they plan their 2026 strategies.
AI-powered automation has transformed programmatic
In 2025 so far, automation has evolved far beyond simply streamlining workflows: it now serves as the foundation for programmatic execution at scale. The historical challenges of implementing rich-media formats have been significantly reduced through advanced AI systems that handle everything from asset creation to optimization, all with minimal human intervention.
This shift is especially clear in the way automation simplifies the creation and management of first-party data strategies—a critical capability as the industry adapts to Google's shift to a user "opt-in” approach for cookies in 2025. According to industry research, data quality and accuracy remain the leading challenges to leveraging data effectively. Advanced automation systems, including those powering Fluency’s Digital Advertising Operating System, can help you connect first-party data and assets into one place. Automation rules can also ensure that ads are compliant with regulatory or brand requirements.
Advancements driven largely by fraud mitigation
Fraud prevention has become another crucial automation function in 2025, and will continue to be a leading factor in the evolution of programmatic ad operations. As fraudulent techniques continue to evolve, DSP automated systems now incorporate sophisticated detection algorithms that identify and block fake clicks and malicious creatives in real-time, protecting both advertisers and publishers.
The unified ad management platforms that emerged in previous years have now matured into ecosystems that break down operational silos and enable integrated cross-channel execution. This integration will continue as programmatic expands beyond traditional formats into emerging channels like digital out-of-home (DOOH) and audio environments.
AI is accelerating creative and contextual intelligence
In 2025, AI's role in programmatic reporting and advertising has gone beyond creative development to become the driving force behind a renaissance in contextual targeting and dynamic content optimization. Programmatic video ad spending is projected to surpass $110 billion this year, accounting for 75% of new programmatic ad dollars from 2024 through 2026.
Large language models have drastically improved targeting capabilities, too. You can now parse larger amounts of content data with razor-sharp precision. These models can now analyze rich-media content at granular levels (from individual scenes in TV shows to complete podcast transcripts), allowing for hyper-relevant ad placements without relying on personal user data. Research shows that 72% of consumers feel that the content surrounding an ad influences their perception, making AI-powered contextual intelligence increasingly valuable to privacy-conscious advertisers and viewers.
The same applies to video formats. AI now enables real-time optimization that adapts messaging, visuals, and calls-to-action based on contextual signals and performance data. This capability is particularly important as programmatic video continues to grow, with spending projected to be nearly double that of non-video formats ($110 billion versus $65.21 billion).
AI is also improving contextual relevance for emerging rich-media formats like programmatic audio. AI can analyze content themes and listener engagement patterns, enabling you to optimize ad delivery across podcasts and streaming platforms. For digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising, AI systems can determine optimal placement timing and creative elements based on environmental factors and audience patterns.
In short, AI is revolutionizing the way we approach and execute ad placement across a variety of programmatic channels. More efficient and effective targeting ultimately drives better results for you or your clients.
Quality, control, and context for brand safety
Programmatic providers are focusing their efforts on delivering quality and control for advertisers, and it’s paying off: more than 91% of total US programmatic display ad spending now flows through private marketplaces (PMPs) and programmatic direct channels. This represents a fundamental change in how brands approach programmatic, with PMP spending growing at nearly 13% compared to just 3% growth for open exchange spending.
A shift toward curated, intentional buying strategies reflects a broader industry trend: advertisers don’t want to sacrifice control, quality, or context for scale. Here are some of the ways programmatic helps you maximize performance while minimizing risk.
Programmatic avoidance for control
With programmatic, you can achieve precision and accountability in your media investments. Instead of refining where your ads appear, you can also reevaluate where not to advertise. This growing emphasis on control has given rise to a new tactic: programmatic avoidance.
Programmatic avoidance refers to advertisers' strategic decisions to limit (or bypass completely) certain channels, primarily due to concerns about inefficiencies, brand safety, or mismatched objectives. These are all common concerns in terms of programmatic risk.
If you want to practice programmatic avoidance, you may want to prioritize direct publisher relationships, contextual advertising, or owned media channels to maintain greater control over ad placements and audience relevance. However, advancements in AI-powered contextual targeting and fraud detection are helping mitigate these concerns.
Premium environments for quality
Advertisers are moving to premium environments for a few reasons.
First, the proliferation of low-quality, made-for-advertising (MFA) content increased by 19% year-over-year, creating significant brand safety concerns. Second, signal loss is an ongoing challenge despite Google's revised approach to third-party cookies. This means that publisher relationships and their first-party data are increasingly valuable.
Contextual relevance has emerged as a critical component of brand safety. Rather than relying solely on keyword blocking or inclusion lists, advanced contextual analysis now evaluates content sentiment, themes, and appropriateness in real-time. This approach protects brand reputation and enhances performance: research confirms that contextually relevant ads achieve higher engagement and recall.
Cross-channel consistency for reach
The consumer journey remains multi-faceted across social media, video, audio, display, digital out-of-home (DOOH), and connected TV (CTV). However, how ad teams measure the success of multichannel campaigns has evolved.
Unified reporting now incorporates alternative measurement methodologies like media mix modeling and incrementality testing to compensate for signal loss. At the same time, AI-powered attribution models can identify patterns and correlations across channels without relying on individual-level tracking.
Cross-channel consistency can be achieved through improved content alignment strategies rather than relying exclusively on user-level targeting. Regardless of where a consumer encounters a brand—whether through a podcast ad during their commute, a DOOH display during lunch, or a CTV ad in the evening—the messaging remains coherent while respecting privacy preferences.
Digital out-of-home advertising is expanding its presence
One of the most significant expansions in programmatic advertising for 2025 is the accelerated growth of Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) advertising. DOOH extends programmatic's reach beyond screens into physical environments, creating new opportunities for advertisers to engage audiences during their daily activities.
Programmatic DOOH buying has evolved from earlier versions as projected. For example, it now supports improved targeting capabilities using anonymized mobile location data and environmental triggers like weather conditions, time of day, or local events. This contextual intelligence allows for creative optimization on the fly that helps you deliver relevant messaging without compromising consumer privacy.
For publishers and media owners, DOOH represents a new monetization opportunity as traditional billboard operators and retail media networks increasingly integrate their inventory into programmatic platforms. The format is particularly valuable if you want to maintain visibility in a fragmented media landscape because DOOH combines the impact of large-format creative with the efficiency and measurement capabilities of programmatic buying.
Integration between DOOH and mobile campaigns has become increasingly sophisticated, too. You can now use sequential messaging that begins with out-of-home exposure and continues through mobile retargeting—all while maintaining privacy compliance through aggregated and anonymized data approaches.
Programmatic audio advertising makes its mark in an increasingly screenless world
As consumers seek breaks from screen fatigue, programmatic audio advertising has emerged as a powerful channel for engaging audiences in 2025. This format encompasses streaming music services, podcasts, and digital radio, offering you access to highly engaged listeners in contexts where visual advertising is impossible.
Audio ads are particularly cost-effective for building brand awareness. Plus, audio ad production costs are significantly lower than comparable video assets while still delivering strong engagement. It should come as no surprise, then, that audio ad spend may hit $2.26 billion in 2025, marking an 18% year-over-year increase. Greater accessibility has democratized audio advertising, allowing mid-market advertisers to compete effectively alongside larger brands.
AI’s contributions to audio advertising
Applying AI to audio content analysis has drastically improved targeting capabilities and programmatic reporting accuracy for audio advertising. Advanced AI algorithms can now analyze podcast transcripts and streaming content to identify relevant contextual placement opportunities, ensuring ads appear alongside thematically appropriate content. This is especially valuable as podcast consumption continues to grow across thousands of niche topics.
Measurement for audio has also matured, with attribution models now able to connect audio ad exposure to consumer actions across digital touchpoints. This has helped overcome previous apprehensions around measurable ROI for audio investments, contributing to the format's growing share of programmatic budgets.
For publishers and content creators, programmatic audio is a unique and important diversification of revenue streams. Streaming platforms and podcast networks are increasingly integrating with major DSPs to monetize their inventory programmatically while maintaining a high-quality listener experience.
Key takeaways for 2026 strategic advertising planning
Programmatic advertising has solidified its dominance, fueled by AI advancements, privacy-compliant contextual targeting, and format diversification. As you start your strategic planning efforts for 2026, here are some key trends to keep in mind:
- AI-powered automation: Advanced systems now manage full-funnel execution, first-party data organization, fraud detection, and cross-channel integration (including DOOH and audio). This reduces manual intervention while ensuring privacy compliance and accuracy in programmatic reporting.
- Contextual intelligence: AI-powered analyses of content themes, sentiments, and real-time signals have replaced user-level tracking. This improves brand safety and ad relevance, which is critical: 72% of consumers cite contextual alignment as influential in their buying journey.
- Premium environments: Over 91% of U.S. programmatic spending now flows through private marketplaces (PMPs) and direct channels, driven by brand safety concerns and the value of publisher first-party data amid signal loss.
- Emerging channels: Digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising leverages location data and environmental triggers for dynamic creatives. Programmatic audio capitalizes on uses taking a break from screens by using AI-driven podcast/streaming ad placements and improved attribution models.
As we look ahead to 2026, it’s important to prioritize the role that AI, automation, contextual relevance, and cross-channel consistency play in your advertising strategies. At the same time, you should consider premium inventory and emerging formats that align with privacy shifts and fragmented consumer journeys.
