WARC today released its report The Future of Programmatic 2025, spotlighting the most important trends currently shaping the programmatic landscape. Drawing on insights from WARC and external sources, the report provides an overview of the programmatic marketplace, offers in-depth analysis of three critical trends – the rise of sell-side curation, AI-powered brand safety, and the growth of programmatic digital out-of-home (prDOOH) – and delivers practical guidance for marketers looking to enhance their programmatic and ad tech capabilities.
Paul Stringer, Managing Editor for Research & Insights at WARC, noted that programmatic advertising on the open web has faced challenges in recent years around transparency, targeting, and measurement.
“There’s a growing sense that programmatic must reinvent itself or risk further decline. Fortunately, it is showing promising signs of progress – advertisers are placing greater emphasis on quality inventory, embracing privacy-first approaches and cookie-less channels like CTV, retail media, and DOOH, and adopting advanced AI tools to measure brand safety – all of which signal a potential renaissance for open web programmatic”, Stringer said.
Marketplace Overview: The Shift to Quality
Spending on open web programmatic has stagnated, while almost all growth has gone to major walled garden platforms, the report finds.
To respond to signal loss, advertisers are increasingly adopting cookie-free strategies, with first-party data and contextual targeting proving especially popular. According to research from Comscore, nearly 48% of marketers expect to rely primarily on cookie-free targeting by the end of 2025.
After years of inaction, advertisers are now demanding more transparency and control in their programmatic investments and focusing on quality and brand-safe inventory. The ANA’s Q1 2025 benchmark on transparency reports a 14% increase in programmatic campaign spend efficiency compared to 2023.
Phil Acton, UK Country Manager at Adform, commented:
“Walled gardens have built their empires on scale – not on transparency or quality. The strength of the open web lies in accountability and collaboration – delivering better results for advertisers, greater revenue for publishers, and richer experiences for consumers”.
IAB research highlights retail media, CTV, and DOOH as the fastest-growing programmatic channels. According to WARC forecasts, CTV and retail media will lead ad spend growth through 2026, ahead of social media, online audio, and search.
The Rise of Sell-Side Curation
Programmatic curation – the process of packaging ad inventory based on audience interests, behaviors, and contextual relevance – is becoming the primary method of transacting on the open web.
A 2024 Exchangewire study shows 41% of European marketers see curated deals as a route to higher ROI. According to Jounce Media, curated deals now account for nearly three-quarters of all programmatic bid requests. In contrast, open auctions are in structural decline.
Joe Root, CEO of Permutive, explains:
“Curation effectively combines publishers’ first-party data with all available audience signals. When advertisers adopt this model, they see significant increases in reach – but more importantly – in results.”
Still, curation can come with higher costs for both advertisers and publishers. Advertisers don’t always get clear visibility into where their ads are served, what data is used, or who the supply partners are – while publishers may lack insight into how their inventory is packaged and resold.
AI and the New Era of Brand Safety
According to IAB Europe, brand safety remains a top priority for marketers, and ANA data confirms rising investment in quality, brand-safe inventory. In parallel, AI tools are transforming brand safety practices.
New AI-powered tools can analyze content and context with much more precision than traditional methods like keyword or category blocking, which often fail to protect brands and unfairly penalize publishers.
These tools are expected to help shift brand safety strategies from reactive to proactive – increasing trust, transparency, and accountability across the programmatic ecosystem.
Laura Quigley, SVP APAC Sales at Integral Ad Science, adds:
“AI is revolutionizing digital advertising – improving brand safety and performance. These innovative technologies can process vast datasets to detect harmful content and anticipate trends, enabling marketers to place ads that align with their brand image and risk profile.”
The Growth of Programmatic Out-of-Home (prDOOH)
Programmatic digital out-of-home (prDOOH) represents the next phase in outdoor advertising – combining the mass reach of traditional OOH with the precision and flexibility of programmatic buying, WARC reports.
While overall OOH spend has remained flat since 2013, DOOH has been growing steadily – up 15% in 2024, and projected to rise 14.9% in 2025, reaching $17.6 billion, according to WARC Media.
Today, half of all DOOH campaigns are bought either fully or partially programmatically – offering greater relevance and timeliness. Studies show that OOH is most effective when integrated with other media channels.
A major advantage of prDOOH is the ability to adjust creative in real-time. The use of Dynamic Creative Optimization (DCO) is on the rise – allowing brands to tailor messaging based on data inputs like time of day, weather, footfall, or even product availability, resulting in more impactful and relevant advertising. However, limited inventory remains a challenge.
Helen Miall, Chief Marketing Officer at VIOOH, emphasizes:
“Lower barriers to entry and data-driven capabilities make prDOOH increasingly attractive for advertisers. Real-time messaging within dynamic creatives ensures relevance and engagement – supporting research that shows OOH drives 37% more attention to digital ads in multi-channel campaigns”.
This report is part of WARC Strategy’s Evolution of Marketing – a content series of forward-looking reports exploring the future of marketing as a discipline through the latest evidence, emerging trends, technologies, media shifts, and societal changes shaping the industry.
