• Among recent buyers of programmatic digital out-of-home (pDOOH), the channel now features in 34% of campaigns in the last 18 months, up from 28% in 2024, with respondents expecting this to rise to 48% over the next 18 months.
• Of these recent buyers, 99% of respondents expect to increase or maintain pDOOH investment, with an average anticipated uplift of 44% over the next 18 months.
• On a global level, 95% of those planning to increase spend in pDOOH expect to reallocate budget from other digital channels (including DOOH).
• pDOOH is now firmly embedded in the programmatic workflow, with 89% of recent pDOOH buyers having planned it as part of wider digital programmatic activity in the last 12 months.
• Curated marketplaces are emerging as a key growth driver, with 58% of marketers likely to use a curated marketplace in the next 18 months.
• AI is already integral to pDOOH execution, with 90% of respondents currently using AI at some point during the campaign process.

London, UK, 19 March 2026 - Today, VIOOH, the leading premium global digital out of home (DOOH) supply-side platform, released its annual research into the programmatic DOOH (pDOOH) market. Globally, among recent pDOOH buyers, the channel featured in an average of 34% of campaigns over the past 18 months, and this is projected to rise to 48% over the next 18 months.

The survey of 1,050 advertisers and agencies across core markets including US, UK, France and this year's new regional market, the Middle East (ME) represented by Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, reveals an anticipated average increase in pDOOH spend of 44% over the next 18 months.

Almost all respondents who have recently bought pDOOH (99%) expect to increase or maintain their pDOOH investment, with the US projected to see the most rapid growth in the share of campaigns using pDOOH, rising by 18 percentage points.

Budgets: digital dollars flowing into pDOOH

The budget fuelling pDOOH growth is increasingly coming from within the wider digital ecosystem. On a global level, 95% of those planning to increase spend in pDOOH expect to reallocate budget from other digital channels (including DOOH) in the next 18 months. This highlights the continuing traction pDOOH is achieving within the broader programmatic landscape.

On a global level in 2026, among those planning to increase their investment in pDOOH over the next 18 months, 95% of respondents say they will reallocate budget from other digital channels (including DOOH), into pDOOH. Budget moving from digital is to be expected, given that pDOOH is a natural extension of existing digital channel activity.

The source of pDOOH budgets also varies depending on who is doing the buying. When pDOOH is purchased by out of home (OOH) teams, increased investment is more often funded from traditional OOH (62% vs. the 49% global average). When digital or programmatic teams lead the buy, budgets are more likely to come from other digital channels (63% vs. 61% global average).

Where a dedicated pDOOH team is in place, marketers are more likely to report that entirely new budgets are being added (36% vs. 25% globally), suggesting that deeper channel expertise is a key enabler of incremental spend.

pDOOH firmly embedded in the programmatic workflow

pDOOH's integration into broader digital and programmatic activity has deepened significantly. In the last 12 months, 89% of respondents globally planned pDOOH as part of wider digital programmatic activity, compared to just 37% in 2023 across core markets. This shift reflects pDOOH's evolution from a specialist buy to a standard component of omnichannel media planning.

The buying landscape is also maturing. Digital and programmatic teams are now the most prevalent route to market, cited by 88% of respondents globally, up from 75% in core markets in 2024. Meanwhile, the use of dedicated programmatic DOOH teams has increased significantly across core markets, from 32% in 2024 to 53% in 2026, signalling a growing level of specialist expertise within the channel.

Curated marketplaces are set to play an increasingly important role in scaling pDOOH adoption. With 58% of marketers likely to consider curated environments in the near future, curation addresses one of the channel's most persistent challenges: fragmentation. By bundling inventory under a single deal ID, curated marketplaces allow buyers to achieve national or multi-market reach while maintaining the targeting precision and brand safety of a traditional private marketplace (PMP).

Innovation, ROI and contextual power

Confidence in pDOOH's ability to deliver return on investment is growing. In 2026, 60% of global respondents say pDOOH is likely to deliver ROI, ahead of DOOH (56%) and traditional OOH (52%). In the core markets, this marks a shift from 2024, when pDOOH trailed behind DOOH on this measure (56% for pDOOH vs. 57% for DOOH).

84% of respondents agree that pDOOH is creating innovative opportunities for advertisers, placing it ahead of channels such as Display and Search. Its strong association with dynamic creative optimisation (DCO) - cited by 65% of respondents, compared to 58% for DOOH - underlines its position at the forefront of advanced creative execution.

Contextual relevance remains one of pDOOH's most valued attributes. Globally, 59% of marketers associate pDOOH with reaching the right people at the right time. This rises to 60% across core markets, up from 56% in 2024, and ahead of DOOH (57%). Flexibility also continues to be a differentiator, with 64% of respondents linking flexibility to pDOOH versus 60% for DOOH and 50% for traditional OOH.

Sustainability and pDOOH

pDOOH remains strongly associated with sustainability. In 2026, 62% of marketers associate pDOOH with sustainable or eco-efficient reach, reinforcing sustainability as one of the channel’s perceived strengths.

However, sustainability has become a less prominent decision factor than it was in 2024 for the core markets. In the UK, France and the US, the share ranking sustainability in their top three has fallen from 32% in 2024 to 15% in 2026.

Future directions: AI, first-party data and DCO

Looking ahead, three areas are expected to define the next phase of pDOOH growth. AI is already playing a central role, with 90% of respondents currently using it during at least one stage of the campaign process. Creative generation (40%), predictive forecasting (38%) and intelligent inventory selection (37%) are among the most common applications. As tools mature and become more accessible, adoption is expected to deepen further.

First-party data integration is identified as one of the leading improvements that would drive greater pDOOH investment, cited by 34% of respondents. This rises to 41% among those managing ad spend over £/€/$150m, highlighting the appetite for more data-led strategies for larger advertisers. 68% of respondents plan to make greater use of data to plan pDOOH campaigns in the next 18 months.

DCO adoption, while showing strong intent, remains a longer journey than the industry first anticipated. Active implementation has eased to 8% in core markets, down from 13% in 2024. Barriers including training gaps (49%), budget constraints (47%) and limited creative resource (46%) continue to slow uptake. Overall commitment remains high, with 66% of global respondents agreeing they will make greater use of DCO in the next 18 months.

“The 2026 State of the Nation report paints a picture of a channel that has crossed a critical threshold. Programmatic DOOH is no longer a nascent or specialist channel, it is a core part of how marketers plan and buy programmatic media. The anticipated 44% increase in pDOOH investment reflects the growing confidence in its ability to deliver measurable results alongside the flexibility and control that advertisers demand. The emergence of curated marketplaces, deeper AI integration and greater first-party data activation point to an exciting next chapter. As the industry continues to build on these capabilities, we are confident that pDOOH will capture an even larger share of digital budgets in the years ahead,” said Jean-Christophe Conti, Chief Executive Officer at VIOOH.

See the full report here: viooh.com/sotn