• by Tobi Elkin  @tobielkin, August 4, 2016

AOL Platforms on Thursday announced the findings of its “2016 Publisher Outlook: Monetizing in the Age of Mobile & Video” report. Among the results: More than 70% of publishers conduct their media sales using programmatic tools.

AOL Platforms is the unit within Verizon/AOL that focuses on media sales and solutions across mobile, desktop, and TV.

“Per our data, programmatic-based transactions continue to grow. Across the 300 publishers polled, the overwhelming majority cited a substantial shift toward programmatic marketing platforms," Matt Gillis, SVP, publisher platforms at AOL Platforms, told Real-Time Daily via email. Gillis said that programmatic technology is helping publishers increase the value of their inventory through data intelligence and a focus on optimizing their sales process.

Among the other key findings:

• Seventy-five percent of the publishers polled will increase mobile investment in the next year.

• Video is projected to be the No. 1 revenue driver for publishers in 2016.

• Over 90% of those polled find off-site distribution(Facebook, Apple News, etc.)has had a positive impact.

• The biggest mobile challenge for publishers is ad blockers (49%).

• Nearly half of all publishers polled use header biddingtechnology.

• Over 75% expect to expand subscription options in the next 12 months.