Programmatic spending even hotter than expected

It turns out programmatic digital advertising is an even bigger deal than forecasters projected.

U.S. programmatic digital display ad spending will reach $25.23 billion this year, according to the latest forecast from eMarketer, up from the $22.10 billion the company expected in its previous forecast in April.

Put another way, it will represent 73 percent of all U.S. display advertising this year.

Mobile and Facebook among the drivers

As is the case in many areas of digital, mobile is one of the main drivers. This year mobile programmatic spending will jump 66 percent to $17.70 billion. Next year mobile will account for three-quarters of all programmatic ad spending, while desktop will account for just a quarter.

Facebook is another driver. The social site will claim 43.7 percent of U.S. programmatic revenues through 2018. Google will be a distant second, claiming a 9.4 percent share of programmatic revenues.

Programmatic will continue to grow at a healthy clip for the foreseeable future. According to the forecast, U.S programmatic will grow 26 percent next year to $31.87 billion, and then grow another 19 percent to $37.88 billion in 2018.

“Publishers are becoming more comfortable with programmatic technology, and therefore more willing and able to package audiences in this manner,” eMarketer senior analyst Lauren Fisher said in a release.

“That has accelerated spending in mobile and other formats that have traditionally shied away from programmatic, such as video.”

Tags: digital, digital spending, emarketer, facebook, google, mobile, programmatic, programmatic spending