This report analyzes the European programmatic advertising market in 2017. Some key findings include: 1) The European programmatic ad market was worth €12 billion in 2017, though growth is slowing as the market matures. 2) Over 60% of digital ad spending in Europe is now programmatic. 3) Programmatic direct spending accounts for the largest share of programmatic budgets, followed by programmatic indirect. 4) Programmatic drives the rapidly growing video ad market, which accounts for over 30% of programmatic budgets.

1. EUROPEAN
PROGRAMMATIC
MARKET SIZING 2017
REPORT
SEPTEMBER 2018

2. Advertising spend that is generated through transactional or workflow automation mechanisms embedded in an infrastructure
that relies on a set of rules applied by software and algorithms that draw on data, commonly known as ‘ad tech’. Following the
IAB’s proposed taxonomy, ‘programmatic’ here is an aggregate category that is composed of four discrete transactional models,
each of which we consider a sub-set:
1. Automated Guaranteed
2. Unreserved Fixed Rate
3. Invitation-Only Auction
4. Open Auction.
Advertising spend is recognised as ‘programmatic’ whenever any of those mechanisms applies, irrespective of the inventory
owner’s awareness of their involvement. This means that revenue is also considered programmatic if inventory that is originally
sold to an intermediary through non-programmatic means (e.g. agency bulk buying) is re-sold to an end-buyer
programmatically. Revenue is recognized as programmatic irrespective of whether the inventory owner acts directly or indirectly
via an intermediary.
Market totals and definitions adhere to the IAB Europe Adex Benchmark, our annual study of overall digital ad spend, in order to
ensure like-for-like comparability. All spend is recorded as gross (after discounts, before agency commission).
Data includes spend in Europe both on local/national media owner properties, and on global players like Facebook and Google.
DEFININGPROGRAMMATIC

3. Market coverage
Source: IAB Europe & IHS Markit
• Austria
• Belgium
• Belarus
• Bulgaria
• Czech Republic
• Croatia
• Denmark
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Hungary
• Ireland
• Italy
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Poland
• Russia
• Romania
• Serbia
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Turkey
• UK

4. 2,263
3,881
6,607
9,426
11,984
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000
14,000
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Europe: Programmatic Ad Spend (€m)
European programmatic advertising is a €12bn market
Source: IAB Europe & IHS Markit

5. Growth still double-digit but slowing as programmatic
rapidly matures
Source: IAB Europe & IHS Markit
71.5% 70.3%
42.7%
27.1%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Europe: Programmatic Ad Spend YoY Growth

6. Traditional vs programmatic ad spend
Source: IAB Europe & IHS Markit
20.7%
30.8%
44.8%
56.0%
62.0%
79.3%
69.2%
55.2%
44.0%
38.0%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Europe: Digital Ad Spend by Transaction Mechanism
programmatic traditional

7. Programmatic direct attracts the most programmatic spend
Source: IAB Europe & IHS Markit
8.0%
13.8%
22.3%
28.9% 33.0%12.7%
17.0%
22.5%
27.1%
28.9%
79.3%
69.2%
55.2%
44.0%
38.0%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Europe: Digital Ad Spend by Transaction Mechanism - Detail
programmatic direct programmatic indirect non-programmatic

8. Programmatic drives the video ad market in Europe, which is
now programmatic-first
Source: IAB Europe & IHS Markit
236 477
931
2,374
3,907
1,392
1,793
2,204
1,536
1,365
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Video: Programmatic vs Traditional Ad Spend (€m)
video programmatic video traditional

9. 1/3 of programmatic ad spend is video
Source: IAB Europe & IHS Markit
10.4%
89.6%
2013
video non-video
32.6%
67.4%
2017
video non-video

10. Programmatic video is a €4bn market, growing 4.5x faster
than banner in 2017
Source: IAB Europe & IHS Markit
102.2%
95.3%
155.1%
64.6%67.9% 66.8%
24.2%
14.5%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
120%
140%
160%
180%
2014 2015 2016 2017
YoY Growth in Programmatic: Video vs
Banner
video banner
236 477 931
2,374
3,907
2,027
3,404
5,676
7,052
8,077
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000
14,000
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Programmatic Spend: Video vs Banner
video banner

11. Programmatic dominates the mobile ad market
Source: IAB Europe & IHS Markit
281 754
2,355
4,422
6,776
1,075
1,582
1,405
1,343
1,356
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
7,000
8,000
9,000
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Mobile: programmatic vs traditional ad spend(€m)
mobile programmatic mobile traditional

12. Rapid change: more than half of programmatic spend is
now mobile
Source: IAB Europe & IHS Markit
12.4%
87.6%
2013
mobile desktop
56.5%
43.5%
2017
mobile desktop

13. €6.7bn of programmatic spend is mobile, desktop growth
nearly flat
Source: IAB Europe & IHS Markit
168.9%
212.2%
87.8%
53.2%57.7%
36.0%
17.7%
4.1%0%
50%
100%
150%
200%
250%
2014 2015 2016 2017
YoY growth in programmatic: mobile vs
desktop
mobile desktop
281 754
2,355
4,422
6,776
1,982
3,126
4,252
5,004
5,208
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000
14,000
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Programmatic spend: mobile vs desktop
mobile desktop

14. Programmatic trends between Western and Central &
Eastern Europe
Source: IAB Europe & IHS Markit
94.5% 92.5% 93.0% 92.5% 90.2%
5.5% 7.5% 7.0% 7.5% 9.8%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Share of programmatic by region
WE CEE
24.0%
65.0%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
120%
140%
2014 2015 2016 2017
Growth of programmatic by region
WE CEE

15. Source: IAB Europe & IHS Markit
• This study is based on raw data submitted by national IABs. Data has been edited and supplemented to ensure a full
market picture and like-for-like comparison.
• Out of the 27 IABs, each representing a country, 16 IABs provided data on programmatic spend, 9 IABs submitted data on
programmatic video spend, and 4 reported programmatic mobile spend.
• We have harmonised the data submitted by local IABs to ensure they refer to the same rate (gross media owner revenue),
and cover the same spectrum of market participants, formats and buying models.
• Coverage gaps (no or only partial reporting) have been filled with estimates from IHS Markit’s Advertising Intelligence
database, and custom econometric modelling.
Raw data
provided by
national IAB for
country A
Raw data
provided by
national IAB for
country B
No data
provided by
national IAB for
country Z
all formats (mobile,
video, banner)
included?
Programmatic
video model
Programmatic
mobile model
Google/Facebook
/global platform
models
Overall
programmatic
model
*models based on total digital ad spend/subsegments per market, structural market factors,
CPM/CPC & inventory trends, similarities with markets that have provided full information)
Google/Facebook/
global platforms
counted as
programmatic?
correct rate (gross
spend on media
owners?
Publish
harmonise
definitions & rates
Collect Check Define Model & adjust Benchmark
compare country
trends
reference with
CPM/CPC &
inventory data
expert validation
Schematic illustration of market sizing process
METHODOLOGY

16. CONTACT
ABOUT IAB EUROPE
IAB Europe is the leading European-level industry association for the
digital advertising ecosystem. Its mission is to promote the development of this
innovative sector and ensure its sustainability by shaping the regulatory environment,
demonstrating the value digital advertising brings to Europe’s economy, to consumers
and to the market, and developing and facilitating the uptake of harmonised business
practices that take account of changing user expectations and enable digital brand
advertising to scale in Europe.
www.iabeurope.eu
@iabeurope
Marie-Clare Puffett
puffett@iabeurope.eu
/iab-europe
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