• by Tyler Loechner  @mp_tyler, June 5, 2013

Over 40% of Canadian agencies will "allocate half or more of their ad spend to programmatic buying in 2013." The 41% figure comes from BrightRoll and IAB Canada, who surveyed over 300 Canadian agency execs for their third annual Canada Video Advertising report, which was released today. According to the U.S. version of the same report, about 33% of U.S. agencies are spending half or more of their budgets on programmatic.

"In Canada, the digital advertising industry is shifting quickly to programmatic buying," David Bellemare, managing director, BrightRoll Canada, told RTM Daily. Bellemare said that the company doesn't have year-over-year numbers around programmatic in Canada - in 2011, IAB Canada wasn't even tracking programmatic spend in the country - but he noted that "it's clearly gaining momentum in the region."

This report is in line with a growing trend when it comes to real-time bidding (RTB) and programmatic buying: global expansion. On Tuesday, Sloan Gaon, CEO of PulsePoint, told RTM Daily that he expects Europe to "leapfrog the U.S." in terms of programmatic adoption.

While Canada, Europe, and the United States are completely different markets, the fact that programmatic buying is catching on around the globe is good news for everyone with a horse in the race.

Additionally - citing advances in ad buying tech, ad serving, and measurement - the Canadian report predicts a "breakout year for digital video in 2013," with Canadian advertisers spending 42% more on digital video compared to last year. The issue of video ad viewability was raised as well, with 67% of respondents feeling the need to confirm the viewability of their campaigns.