The State of US Programmatic Ad Spend 2020

By OpenX in Brands & Agencies, Publishers|June 22, 2020

Programmatic has continued to capture the attention of media buyers over the last several years by providing an efficient channel to reach consumers across the open web. While there are still existing challenges to be addressed, like supply chain transparency and ad fraud, as well as new hurdles on the horizon — the end of the third-party cookie, a changing regulatory landscape and most recently and a global pandemic — it’s clear buyers will continue to find value and invest in programmatic. 

Despite ad spend dropping off significantly in March and April of this year due to the uncertainty brought on by the pandemic, recent reports from Magna Global and GroupM suggest that digital will remain resilient. When it comes to programmatic specifically, spend has already started to trend in the right direction, though its return is expected to be more gradual as opposed to a rapid increase.

Earlier this year, eMarketer released a study that outlined the state of programmatic spend — where buyers are investing now and main categories for growth — and while recent events may impact the results, they still provide a good indicator for where spend is going. One main takeaway is that CTV is poised for rapid growth, which is actually predicted to accelerate in current market conditions. 

Take a look at the below infographic for some additional insights on where ad spend is today and where it’s expected to grow in the future:

2020 State of Programmatic Advertising


About OpenX

OpenX is an independent omni-channel supply-side platform (SSP) and a global leader in supply-side curation, transparency, and sustainability. Through its 100% cloud-based tech stack, OpenX powers advertising across CTV, app, mobile web, and desktop, enabling publishers to deliver marketers with improved performance and dynamic future-proofed solutions. With a 17-year track record of programmatic innovation, OpenX is a direct and trusted partner of the world’s largest publishers, working with more than 130,000 premium publisher domains and over 100,000 advertisers. As the market leader in sustainability, OpenX was the first adtech company to be certified as CarbonNeutral™ and third-party verified for achieving its SBTi Net-Zero targets. Learn more at www.openx.com.

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