Mumbai: WARC, the global authority on marketing effectiveness, has unveiled its latest report The Future of Programmatic 2025, offering a comprehensive look at key shifts shaping the programmatic advertising ecosystem. Based on insights from WARC and partner research, the report identifies four major drivers that are poised to redefine the space: quality buying, the rise of curation, AI-powered brand safety, and the growth of programmatic digital out-of-home (prDOOH).
Paul Stringer, Managing Editor, Research and Insights, WARC, explained, “The past few years have been challenging for open web programmatic advertising due to issues over transparency, targeting and measurement. There is a growing sense that it must reinvent itself or risk losing even more ground. Fortunately, programmatic advertising is showing promising signs of progress as advertisers put more emphasis on quality inventory, embrace privacy-friendly approaches and cookie-less channels like CTV, retail media and DOOH, and adopt advanced AI tools that enhance brand safety measurement — signaling a potential renaissance for open web programmatic advertising.”
Key Trends from the Report:
A Shift to Quality and Control
With open internet programmatic spending stagnating, brands are shifting their focus toward quality-first, brand-safe inventory. Advertisers are also increasingly embracing cookie-free targeting strategies. According to Comscore, 48% of marketers plan to rely primarily on cookie-free solutions by the end of 2025. Transparency and control are also in sharper focus, with programmatic campaign efficiency rising by 14% since 2023, per the ANA.
Phil Acton, UK Country Manager, Adform, noted, “Walled gardens have built their empires on scale, not transparency or quality. The open web’s strength lies in accountability and collaboration, delivering better results for advertisers, more revenue for publishers, and richer experiences for consumers.”
The Rise of Sell-Side Curation
Curation, or packaging inventory based on specific audience and contextual relevance, is gaining mainstream traction. Jounce Media reports that multi-publisher curated deals now account for nearly 75% of all bid requests, marking the open auction’s structural decline.
Joe Root, CEO & Co-founder, Permutive, said, “Curation effectively harnesses first party data from publishers alongside all addressable audience signals. When advertisers operate this way, you see huge uplifts in reach, and more importantly, significant improvements in outcomes.”
Despite benefits, the model faces challenges in transparency for both buyers and publishers.
AI-Powered Brand Safety
Brand safety is undergoing a paradigm shift as AI-based tools replace blunt instruments like keyword blocking. These advanced systems are enabling more proactive and precise controls, enhancing both trust and campaign performance.
Laura Quigley, SVP APAC Sales, Integral Ad Science, commented, “AI is revolutionising digital advertising by enhancing brand safety and performance. Innovative AI technologies can analyse vast datasets to identify harmful content and predict trends, allowing marketers to strategically place ads that align with their brand image and risk tolerance.”
Programmatic DOOH Gains Momentum
prDOOH is rapidly becoming a preferred channel for its flexibility, real-time targeting, and measurable outcomes. With DOOH spend projected to rise 14.9% in 2025, nearly 50% of all DOOH campaigns are now programmatic, according to WARC Media.
Helen Miall, CMO, VIOOH, stated, “prDOOH’s lower barriers to entry and data-driven capabilities are enabling advertisers to increasingly use real-time messaging within dynamic creatives. This ensures highly contextual and relevant campaigns, confirming the 37% more attention that OOH delivers to digital ads within multi-channel campaigns.”
WARC subscribers can access The Future of Programmatic 2025 in full, with a companion podcast releasing later this month. The report is part of WARC Strategy’s Evolution of Marketing series, which explores the future of the marketing discipline through deep research on emerging technologies and market shifts.
