UK programmatic DOOH investment to rise by 41%, study forecasts

UK programmatic digital OOH (pDOOH) investment is forecast to rise by just over two fifths (41%) over the next 18 months.

This marks a notable increase than the 32% growth projected in 2024 highlighting an increase in advertiser confidence in the channel.

This is according to the findings of research titled, “State of the Nation,” conducted by VIOOH, a global DOOH supply-side platform.

The results show that pDOOH is now firmly established as a mainstream channel within the UK’s digital media landscape, with 34% of campaigns featuring the channel in the past 18 months, up from 31% in 2024.

According to VIOOH, UK marketers expect this to rise to 47% of campaigns in the next 18 months due to the channel capturing a greater share of budgets and planner’s attention.

Despite the findings of the report, agency reaction suggests while growth is on the table, it is not as highly projected as the report’s estimates.

Where budget is coming from

The budget funding this growth is reportedly coming from other parts of the digital ecosystem.

Of those planning to increase pDOOH investment, 96% expect to reallocate budget from other channels such as DOOH, marking an increase from 82% in 2024.

Additionally, 65% expect to shift spend from traditional channels, including traditional OOH.

New budget also plays a slightly smaller role (22%) and of those buying through a dedicated pDOOH team, 39% expect growth to be supported by entirely new budget.

Becoming an integral piece of the puzzle

The report notes the striking shift digital and programmatic planning of pDOOH is starting to have.

For instance, in 2026 92% of UK marketers say pDOOH has been planned as part of broader digital/ programmatic activity in the last 12 months, an increase of 59 percentage points from 2023.

Social media is increasingly becoming a common pairing with pDOOH, with 90% of respondents stating its effectiveness for both brand and performance campaigns.

Display and search were also cited as effective pairings highlighting the role pDOOH can play in digital programmatic campaigns.

An additional 63% of UK respondents say they expect to integrate the channel more in multi-channel campaigns over the next 12 months.

A channel that can do both

The channel has been increasingly viewed as a hybrid, capable of delivering across the full funnel.

According to the findings, 68% of respondents now link pDOOH to increasing sales and performance.

As well, 66% associate pDOOH with delivering brand objectives reiterating the view it is able to deliver brand impact while also delivering the targeting and optimisation advantages of programmatic buying.

In terms of brand safety, 66% of respondents underline that pDOOH offers brand-safe delivery, including protection against bots and click-fraud.

There also appears to be growing confidence in this sentiment, with pDOOH outperforming DOOH by ten percentage points.

Not the whole picture

Despite the findings of VIOOH’s report and clear consensus in the industry that pDOOH will continue to grow, there are differing views on how much.

For instance, Nicole Lonsdale, chief client officer for OOH at WPP Media says: “Our estimations are that the pDOOH market in the UK is c.8% of the total market (this is the % of revenue traded programmatically).

“We feel this will grow to c.10% this year, which is growth of 25% year on year.

“It’s an exciting area for OOH as it offers more data triggered targeting and near real time activation.

“While it offers a new route to plan and buy OOH, and will potentially bring new advertisers, it isn’t right for every brief.”