Programmatic Advertising Forecast and Ad Tech Trends H1 2025

Curation and Consolidation Take the Market by Storm

Report by Evelyn Mitchell-Wolf  | Feb 12, 2025
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Table of Contents
Executive Summary
The programmatic market will grow despite privacy whiplash and regulatory uncertainty
Programmatic advertisers are on track to pass $200 billion in spending by 2026
Curation has taken on new importance as sell-side ad tech fights for relevance
Ad tech consolidation is finally here
How should marketers approach their programmatic strategies in 2025?
EMARKETER Interviews
Sources
Media Gallery
About This Report
Disruption is imminent for programmatic. The market teeters on the brink of several seismic shifts around identity and audience data. And a landmark antitrust ruling could energize an already hot ad tech consolidation streak.
Topics
Programmatic Ad Spending
US
Table of Contents
Executive Summary
The programmatic market will grow despite privacy whiplash and regulatory uncertainty
Programmatic advertisers are on track to pass $200 billion in spending by 2026
Curation has taken on new importance as sell-side ad tech fights for relevance
Ad tech consolidation is finally here
How should marketers approach their programmatic strategies in 2025?
EMARKETER Interviews
Sources
Media Gallery

Programmatic advertisers are navigating a market on the brink of big change. As they await word from the US courts on the fate of Google’s ad tech business, Google prepares to hand consumers the reins on cookie deprecation. Meanwhile, curation and consolidation are already reshaping programmatic supply paths.

Key Question: What trends are driving programmatic budget allocations, and how are ad tech vendors responding?

Programmatic Direct Is Gaining Share of Nonsocial Programmatic Market Thanks to RMNs and CTV (% of US nonsocial programmatic display ad spending, by transaction method, 2019-2026)
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Key Stat: More than 4 in 5 programmatic display ad dollars will transact via programmatic direct and private marketplaces (PMPs) this year and next, even when social networks are excluded from the analysis.

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    Table of Contents

    1. Executive Summary
    2. The programmatic market will grow despite privacy whiplash and regulatory uncertainty
    3. Programmatic advertisers are on track to pass $200 billion in spending by 2026
    1. Curation has taken on new importance as sell-side ad tech fights for relevance
    2. Ad tech consolidation is finally here
    3. How should marketers approach their programmatic strategies in 2025?
    1. EMARKETER Interviews
    2. Sources
    3. Media Gallery

    Charts in This Report

    Programmatic Direct Is Gaining Share of Nonsocial Programmatic Market Thanks to RMNs and CTV (% of US nonsocial programmatic display ad spending, by transaction method, 2019-2026)Programmatic Advertisers Are on Track to Surpass $200 Billion in Spending Next Year (billions in US programmatic display ad spending, % change, and % of total display ad spending, 2022-2026)
    Retail Media Programmatic Ad Spending Is Growing Faster Than Other Market Segments (% of total US programmatic digital display ad spending, by media, 2020-2026)Programmatic Connected TV (CTV) Continues to Widen Its Share Lead Over Desktop/Laptop (% of US programmatic digital display ad spending, by device, 2022-2026)
    Sell-Side Curation Changes Where Data Is Applied in the Supply ChainHow Is Sell-Side Curation Different From Other Related Trends?
    Ad Tech Companies Picked Up the Pace on M&A Over the Course of 2024 (number of US ad tech merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions, by deal amount, Q1 2023-Q4 2024)Google's Buy-Side Ad Tech Is the Most Widely Used, Accounting for 2 of the Top 5 Platforms (% of US retail media ad buyers, by top 10 ad tech platforms, Aug 2024)

    Interviewed for This Report

    Brian Binder
    Tinuiti
    Senior Innovation and Growth Director, TV, Audio & Display
    Interviewed January 17, 2025
    Scott Messer
    Messer Media
    Principal and Founder
    Interviewed January 17, 2025
    Ron Pinelli
    Media Rating Council (MRC)
    Senior Vice President, Digital Research and Standards and Associate Director
    Interviewed January 9, 2025
    Joe Root
    Permutive
    CEO and Co-Founder
    Interviewed January 21, 2025
    Drew Stein
    Audigent
    CEO and Co-Founder
    Interviewed January 17, 2025

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    authors

    Evelyn Mitchell-Wolf

    Contributors

    Ross Benes
    Senior Analyst
    Rahul Chadha
    Director, Report Editing
    Donte Gibson
    Senior Charts Editor
    Madan Kumar
    Copy Editor
    Emma Noyes
    Graphic Designer, Data Visualization
    Andrew Spink
    Forecasting Analyst
    Tracy Tang
    Senior Researcher
    Matt Torpey
    Senior Chart Editor
    Yoram Wurmser
    Principal Analyst