pDOOH investment set to surge 44% as programmatic takes over half of campaigns

VIOOH launched its 2026 State of the Nation report on programmatic digital out-of-home promoting, revealing that the channel is forecast to look in practically half of all campaigns globally inside 18 months – a notable step up from the 34% share recorded over the previous 18 months. The availability-side platform, headquartered in London, printed the findings this month, drawing on a survey of 1,050 advertisers and companies performed in partnership with analysis consultancy MTM.

The numbers are appreciable. Amongst current patrons of programmatic DOOH (pDOOH), 99% anticipate to extend or preserve funding, and the common anticipated uplift stands at 44% over the subsequent 18 months. That determine rises to 49% amongst US respondents, the very best forecast of any market surveyed. For context, the equal enhance projected in 2024 throughout core markets was 30%, that means the anticipated development charge has accelerated materially in two years.

“The 2026 State of the Nation report paints an image of a channel that has crossed a essential threshold,” stated Jean-Christophe Conti, Chief Govt Officer at VIOOH. “Programmatic DOOH is now not a nascent or specialist channel, it’s a core a part of how entrepreneurs plan and purchase programmatic media.”

How the survey was constructed

VIOOH partnered with MTM to survey 1,050 advertisers and companies throughout 4 markets: the US, UK, France, and – for the primary time within the annual sequence – the Center East, represented by Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. Contributors had both bought pDOOH prior to now 12 months or had been digital patrons open to buying it. Until acknowledged in any other case, year-over-year comparisons within the international report use the three core markets of the US, UK, and France because the baseline, in line with prior editions.

The earlier international State of the Nation was printed in September 2024. In 2025, VIOOH issued particular editions for visitor markets together with the Nordics and China. The China report, launched on August 4, 2025, confirmed programmatic DOOH adoption at 30% in mainland China – a 6-percentage-point acquire from 24% in 2023. The 2026 international version now provides the Center East as a fourth core market, signalling VIOOH’s intent to broaden the geographic scope of its annual benchmarking work.

Market-by-market share of campaigns

Throughout all six markets surveyed, pDOOH featured in 34% of campaigns in the course of the previous 18 months – up from 28% recorded in 2024 throughout France, the UK, and the US. The projected ahead share throughout the worldwide pattern is 48%. However the market-level variation is what offers the information its texture.

The US sits at 34% for the previous interval and is anticipated to achieve 52% – the very best of any market within the survey and a projected enhance of 18 share factors. That development charge can also be the steepest, reflecting what the report describes as a complicated adoption base persevering with to scale quickly. US entrepreneurs forecast a 49% common enhance in pDOOH spend, nicely above the 30% enhance they forecast in 2024. Based on the US market highlights, 68% of American respondents now prioritize programmatic shopping for and optimization capabilities of their decision-making.

The UK recorded 34% for the previous 18 months, up from 31% in 2024, with an anticipated ahead share of 47%. Notably, 92% of UK entrepreneurs say pDOOH has been deliberate as a part of broader digital or programmatic exercise within the final 12 months – a determine that underscores its integration into omnichannel workflows. The UK report additionally identifies effectivity as a central funding driver: 70% of UK entrepreneurs prioritize worth and cost-effectiveness, and 64% place a premium on optimized provide paths and provide chain transparency.

France reveals 33% for the previous interval, rising to 47% projected – in line with its trajectory however barely behind the UK and US in absolute phrases. French entrepreneurs who’ve purchased pDOOH anticipate spend to extend by a mean of 45% over the subsequent 18 months, nicely above the 28% development they forecast in 2024. Based on the France market highlights, 68% of French respondents now charge trigger-based shopping for as very or fairly necessary, whereas 64% worth the flexibility to make use of first- or third-party information throughout a number of digital channels.

The Center East – comprising Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE – represents the latest addition to the survey. Amongst current pDOOH patrons within the area, the channel featured in 34% of campaigns over the previous 18 months, with a ahead projection of 46%. The regional common for anticipated funding enhance stands at 42%. Based on the Center East highlights, pDOOH is already most frequently deliberate as a part of wider digital or programmatic exercise by 88% of respondents, and campaigns are primarily run at nationwide scale (51%), with execution largely agency-led. Normal media companies and OOH specialist companies had been equally recognized as chargeable for planning and shopping for – a sample that implies shopping for constructions within the area stay extra agency-concentrated than in some Western markets.

Funds flows: the place the cash comes from

One of many report’s extra telling findings issues the place elevated pDOOH budgets originate. On a worldwide degree, 95% of these planning to extend pDOOH spend anticipate to reallocate funds from different digital channels – together with DOOH itself. Solely 25% globally report that solely new funds is being added.

Who controls the purchase influences the place the cash comes from. When out-of-home groups lead pDOOH buying, elevated funding is extra usually funded from conventional OOH, with 62% citing this route in comparison with the 49% international common. When digital or programmatic groups lead the purchase, budgets usually tend to come from different digital channels – 63% versus the 61% international common. The excellence has structural implications: totally different inner groups draw from totally different funds swimming pools, and the group in charge of pDOOH shopping for shapes the aggressive dynamics inside the broader media combine.

The place a devoted pDOOH group is in place, 36% of entrepreneurs report that solely new funds is being added, versus 25% globally. The report interprets this as proof that deeper channel experience capabilities as an enabler of incremental spend – a sample that can possible encourage media homeowners and companies to spend money on specialist pDOOH capabilities.

Workflow integration deepens considerably

Maybe probably the most hanging pattern within the 2026 information is the diploma to which pDOOH has embedded itself in programmatic workflows. Based on the worldwide report, 89% of respondents globally deliberate pDOOH as a part of wider digital programmatic exercise within the final 12 months. That compares to only 37% in 2023 throughout core markets. The size of that shift – from nicely below half to virtually 9 in ten – suggests the channel has moved from specialist consideration to straightforward observe.

Digital and programmatic groups are actually probably the most prevalent path to marketplace for pDOOH, cited by 88% of respondents globally, up from 75% in core markets in 2024. The usage of devoted programmatic DOOH groups has additionally elevated considerably, rising from 32% in 2024 to 53% in 2026 throughout core markets. That latter determine factors to a rising layer of specialist experience sitting inside companies and advertisers, separate from the overall digital or OOH shopping for perform.

The IAB Australia programmatic DOOH buyers guide, printed in August 2025, described the sensible mechanics of how pDOOH slots into programmatic infrastructure: demand-side platforms bid in opposition to supply-side platform stock in real-time, with marketing campaign supply optimized in opposition to viewers and efficiency alerts. The VIOOH 2026 information means that workflow has now turn into routine for many practitioners throughout core markets.

Curated marketplaces: the rising structural layer

The 2026 report offers important consideration to curated marketplaces as a mechanism for scaling pDOOH adoption. Globally, 58% of entrepreneurs say they’re prone to take into account curated environments within the close to future. The determine is constant throughout markets: 57% in France, 59% within the UK, 59% within the US, and 58% throughout the Center East.

The structural rationale is fragmentation. DOOH stock is unfold throughout quite a few media homeowners, every working with various platforms. A purchaser in search of nationwide attain should historically negotiate a number of offers, handle a number of deal IDs, and reconcile reporting from a number of sources. Curated marketplaces handle this by bundling stock below a single deal ID, permitting patrons to realize nationwide or multi-market attain whereas sustaining concentrating on precision and model security.

Based on the worldwide report, desire for personal market (PMP) offers is projected to climb from 30% in 2024 to 50% by 2026 throughout the FR/UK/US markets. The curated mannequin basically fuses some great benefits of a PMP – worth certainty, stock high quality, model security – with the operational simplicity of a single buying and selling relationship. From a supply-side platform’s perspective, it additionally strengthens the SSP’s function within the transaction chain by putting curation logic on the platform degree moderately than on the particular person media proprietor.

VIOOH’s personal provide growth has moved in parallel. The VIOOH and OUTFRONT partnership announced on March 9, 2026 linked greater than 7,600 digital screens and 18 billion month-to-month impressions to VIOOH’s platform, masking roughly 25% of the US DOOH market. Mixed with the Vengo partnership from August 2025 – 65,000 screens and 13 billion month-to-month impressions – VIOOH has quickly assembled a considerable share of US pDOOH provide. Extra not too long ago, the partnership with Dolphin OOH in January 2026 added over 5,000 screens throughout grocery shops and transit hubs. And in Europe, the JCDecaux Ireland partnership in February 2026 opened 32% of the Irish digital OOH market via 288 screens and 311 million month-to-month impressions. The availability accumulation technique immediately helps the curated market mannequin by giving patrons extra stock to pool below single deal constructions.

ROI confidence rises; pDOOH overtakes DOOH for the primary time

Confidence in pDOOH’s return on funding has elevated, and for the primary time it now exceeds customary DOOH on this measure. In 2026, 60% of world respondents say pDOOH is prone to ship ROI, in comparison with 56% for DOOH and 52% for conventional OOH. That reversal is notable: in 2024, pDOOH trailed DOOH on this measure, at 56% versus 57%.

The contextual attributes of pDOOH are additionally perceived to be strengthening. Globally, 59% of entrepreneurs affiliate pDOOH with reaching the best folks on the proper time, rising to 60% throughout core markets – up from 56% in 2024, and forward of DOOH at 57%. Flexibility stays a differentiator, with 64% of respondents linking it to pDOOH versus 60% for DOOH and 50% for conventional OOH. And 84% agree that pDOOH is creating progressive alternatives for advertisers, putting it forward of channels similar to show and search on this dimension.

Dynamic inventive optimisation (DCO) – the potential that permits inventive to adapt in actual time to climate, time of day, viewers information, or different triggers – is carefully related to pDOOH. Based on the worldwide report, 65% of respondents affiliate pDOOH with DCO, in comparison with 58% for normal DOOH. That 7-percentage-point differential displays pDOOH’s benefit in enabling data-triggered inventive execution at scale.

AI integration: 90% already utilizing it someplace within the workflow

AI is now a part of pDOOH execution for practically all practitioners surveyed. Based on the worldwide report, 90% of respondents are at the moment utilizing AI sooner or later in the course of the marketing campaign course of. Artistic technology leads the particular purposes, cited by 40%, adopted by predictive forecasting at 38% and clever stock choice at 37%.

These percentages fluctuate by market. The US leads on AI adoption depth: solely 4% of US respondents report utilizing not one of the listed AI purposes, in comparison with the next proportion globally. The US additionally leads on DCO execution, with 11% of US respondents actively integrating DCO, versus 7% globally. Based on the US market highlights, AI is “already embedded throughout pDOOH workflows” and the US “leads globally on DCO execution.”

The broader pDOOH-AI relationship has been evolving. The evaluation published on PPC Land in December 2025 famous that AI is anticipated to optimize the guide and repetitive facets of OOH marketing campaign planning moderately than displace inventive judgment – a framing in line with the 2026 State of the Nation’s depiction of AI as a workflow device moderately than a alternative for human technique. The 40% of respondents utilizing AI for inventive technology represents a significant adoption degree, however 60% usually are not but doing so, indicating runway for additional uptake as instruments mature and obstacles to make use of fall.

DCO: intent outpaces execution

DCO adoption tells a extra complicated story. Energetic DCO implementation has eased to eight% in core markets, down from 13% in 2024. The obstacles are nicely documented: coaching gaps are cited by 49% of respondents, funds constraints by 47%, and restricted inventive useful resource by 46%. Regardless of these constraints, 66% of world respondents say they are going to make larger use of DCO within the subsequent 18 months.

That hole between acknowledged intent and present execution is one the business has been conscious of for a number of years. The 2026 information suggests it has not but closed, and will have widened barely on the energetic implementation metric. For media homeowners and know-how platforms, the persistence of this hole factors to a product and schooling problem moderately than a requirement drawback: entrepreneurs need DCO however face sensible obstacles to utilizing it at scale.

France illustrates the shift in the place obstacles sit. Based on the France market highlights, lack of expertise has fallen as a barrier from 54% to 25% – suggesting that the business schooling efforts of the previous two years have been efficient. Nevertheless, coaching wants have risen from 46% to 52%, and funds constraints from 33% to 48%. The barrier profile has shifted from ignorance to functionality and useful resource – a special drawback requiring a special response from the business.

First-party information: the important thing unlock for bigger advertisers

First-party information integration is recognized as one of many main enhancements that will drive larger pDOOH funding, cited by 34% of respondents globally. Amongst these managing advert spend above £/€/$150 million, that determine rises to 41% – a significant hole suggesting that bigger, extra data-sophisticated advertisers have a sharper urge for food for data-led pDOOH methods than the overall pattern.

Based on the worldwide report, 68% of respondents plan to make larger use of information to plan pDOOH campaigns within the subsequent 18 months. The UK market highlights notice that 63% of UK entrepreneurs anticipate to combine pDOOH extra carefully into multi-channel campaigns over the subsequent 12 months, a determine possible linked to the drive towards extra data-integrated planning workflows.

The cross-channel information query sits inside a broader business dialog about viewers measurement and identification in out-of-home. VIOOH’s personal positioning as a platform has integrated information partnerships to increase concentrating on precision past geographic and time-of-day parameters. The January 2025 ECN and VIOOH partnership explored how workplace environments might function a concentrating on context for reaching enterprise decision-makers – an instance of the type of audience-led pDOOH activation that first-party information integration might allow at scale.

Sustainability: nonetheless valued, much less decisive than in 2024

Sustainability continues to be related to pDOOH. In 2026, 62% of entrepreneurs affiliate the channel with sustainable or eco-efficient attain. That determine reinforces the credential, significantly given VIOOH’s personal emissions information: the platform reported in November 2025 an emissions depth of 0.041g CO2e per advert impression for 2024, greater than 20 instances extra carbon-efficient than programmatic show at 0.84g CO2e per impression.

Nevertheless, sustainability has turn into a much less distinguished decision-making issue than it was in 2024. Within the UK, France, and the US, the share rating sustainability of their high three funding issues has fallen from 32% in 2024 to fifteen% in 2026. The credential stays intact, nevertheless it has receded as a major business driver. Whether or not this displays satisfaction that the sustainability case has been made and is now assumed, or a shift in advertiser priorities towards effectivity and ROI, the information doesn’t resolve. What it does counsel is that sustainability arguments, on their very own, carry much less weight in funds conversations than they did two years in the past.

The Center East: a market establishing its pDOOH infrastructure

The addition of the Center East to the 2026 survey gives a baseline from which to trace improvement in a area that has been increasing its digital OOH footprint. Amongst Center East pDOOH patrons, the channel featured in 34% of campaigns over the previous 18 months, projected to rise to 46% – a 12-percentage-point enhance, broadly consistent with the worldwide common.

The common anticipated funding enhance for the Center East is 42%. Execution is at the moment nationwide in scale for 51% of campaigns, and predominantly agency-led. Based on the Center East market highlights, 88% of respondents plan pDOOH as a part of wider digital or programmatic exercise – a excessive integration determine for a market getting into the benchmark sequence for the primary time.

Curated marketplaces are seen as an necessary subsequent step, with 58% of Center East entrepreneurs possible to make use of such options sooner or later. The deal with reaching the best viewers in related environments, cited within the regional highlights, aligns with the broader international theme round contextual precision and programmatic workflow integration.

Mazen Mroueh, Head of Efficiency Product and Operations at Publicis, MENA, was quoted within the international report: “pDOOH remains to be rising massively, we’re seeing double-digit development yearly.”

The report in context for advertising professionals

The 2026 State of the Nation information arrives at a second when programmatic promoting funding is increasing throughout channels. Broader market information cited in PPC Land’s protection has famous that 72% of entrepreneurs deliberate to extend programmatic spending in 2025, up from 62% in 2024. Inside that trajectory, pDOOH’s projected 44% funding enhance would make it one of many faster-growing segments of programmatic spend.

For media planners, the workflow integration figures carry specific significance. The bounce from 37% planning pDOOH as a part of digital programmatic exercise in 2023 to 89% in 2026 signifies that, inside three years, the channel has shifted from a minority consideration to a near-standard aspect of omnichannel planning. That shift makes pDOOH literacy more and more related for patrons who primarily function in digital channels, not only for OOH specialists.

The expansion of curated market adoption – anticipated to hit 58% intent globally inside 18 months – will possible reshape how stock is packaged and offered. By consolidating fragmented provide below single deal constructions, curation adjustments the aggressive dynamics between media homeowners, SSPs, and patrons. Platforms that may provide high quality curated environments at scale will maintain structural benefits over these relying purely on open public sale stock.

Timeline

• 2018: VIOOH launches in London as a premium international digital out-of-home supply-side platform, initially buying and selling within the UK and US. JCDecaux holds a 93.5% possession stake.
• September 2024: VIOOH releases its earlier international State of the Nation report, with market-specific editions for the US, UK, Australia, Germany, France, and Brazil.
• November 6, 2024: VIOOH studies carbon emissions of lower than 0.35g CO2e per advert impression for 2023. Coverage on PPC Land
• December 17, 2024: VIOOH and FRAMEN announce partnership for programmatic promoting in Australian coworking areas. Coverage on PPC Land
• January 8, 2025: ECN and VIOOH announce a partnership bringing programmatic DOOH to European places of work throughout 870 screens within the UK, France, and Germany.
• August 4, 2025: VIOOH releases its State of the Nation 2025 Mainland China report, exhibiting pDOOH adoption at 30%. Coverage on PPC Land
• August 21, 2025: IAB Australia publishes a complete programmatic DOOH patrons information. Coverage on PPC Land
• August 26, 2025: VIOOH proclaims a partnership with Vengo masking 65,000 US screens and 13 billion month-to-month impressions, representing 9% of the US digital OOH market. Coverage on PPC Land
• October 23, 2025: VIOOH proclaims a partnership with London Lites masking 49 screens and 74.5 million month-to-month impressions, representing 23% of the London roadside digital OOH market. Coverage on PPC Land
• November 5, 2025: BIG OUTDOOR integrates stock into VIOOH’s platform throughout seven US markets. Coverage on PPC Land
• November 6, 2025: VIOOH proclaims a partnership with RZK Digital masking 800 screens in 43 Brazilian bus terminals with 75 million month-to-month guests. Coverage on PPC Land
• November 20, 2025: VIOOH studies 0.041g CO2e per impression for 2024, greater than 20 instances extra carbon-efficient than programmatic show. Coverage on PPC Land
• January 8, 2026: VIOOH proclaims a partnership with Dolphin OOH masking 5,000 US screens throughout grocery shops and transit environments. Coverage on PPC Land
• January 25, 2026: Polish DOOH community Jet Line integrates its MORE community with VIOOH, including over 600 screens throughout Poland’s eight largest cities. Coverage on PPC Land
• February 24, 2026: VIOOH and JCDecaux Eire announce a partnership masking 288 screens and 311 million month-to-month impressions, representing 32% of the Irish digital OOH market. Coverage on PPC Land
• March 9, 2026: VIOOH proclaims a partnership with OUTFRONT masking 7,600 US screens and 18 billion month-to-month impressions, representing 25% of the US DOOH market. Coverage on PPC Land
• March 19, 2026: VIOOH releases the 2026 State of the Nation international and market studies, surveying 1,050 advertisers and companies throughout the US, UK, France, and the Center East. Revealed on PPC Land in the present day.

Abstract

Who: VIOOH, the London-based premium international digital out-of-home supply-side platform, in partnership with worldwide analysis and technique consultancy MTM. The analysis coated 1,050 advertisers and companies throughout the US, UK, France, and the Center East (Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and UAE).

What: The 2026 State of the Nation report on the programmatic DOOH market, exhibiting the channel featured in 34% of campaigns over the previous 18 months, anticipated to rise to 48% over the subsequent 18 months. Common anticipated funding uplift stands at 44% globally, rising to 49% for the US. The report additionally covers curated marketplaces, AI integration, DCO adoption, first-party information, and sustainability.

When: The report was launched in the present day, March 21, 2026. The survey was performed throughout markets in 2026, with year-over-year comparisons utilizing the US, UK, and France as core market baselines. The earlier international version was printed in September 2024.

The place: The analysis covers 4 markets – the US, UK, France, and the Center East (Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE). The Center East is included within the international sequence for the primary time. VIOOH at the moment trades programmatically in 36 markets and connects to greater than 50 DSPs globally.

Why: The report issues as a result of it paperwork a structural shift in how programmatic media is deliberate and purchased. With 89% of practitioners now planning pDOOH as a part of broader digital programmatic exercise – up from 37% in 2023 – the channel has moved from specialist consideration to straightforward observe in omnichannel campaigns. The 44% projected funding enhance, the emergence of curated marketplaces as a fragmentation answer, and the near-universal adoption of AI in pDOOH workflows all point out that the channel’s function in programmatic budgets is about to develop considerably over the close to time period.