• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, December 17, 2018

Marketers will spend 65% of their advertising budgets on programmatic in 2019 -- up 19% to $84 billion, according to a Zenith forecast.

InMobi, a mobile platform provider focused on in-app advertising, also sees the growth. So company analysts set out to determine the effects that programmatic advertising has on campaigns by reviewing data on billions of transactions running through its exchange since January 2017.

On average, about 7.3 billion ad requests annually run through the exchange. Most of the comparisons analyze the first six months of 2018 compared with the first six months of 2017.

The research found, comparing the first six months of 2018 with the first six months of 2017, that the total amount of money spent programmatically rose 308% worldwide. 

Overall, the share of mobile advertising spent in North America conducted programmatically rose from 55% to 72%, with total programmatic spending in North America reaching 438%.

In the U.S. alone, the share of all mobile advertising spend conducted programmatically rose from 52% to 70%, and total programmatic spending grew 444%. Canada followed with 328% growth during this time period.

During this same time frame, the share of all mobile advertising spend globally through programmatic channels rose 19% to 56%, with the top cited benefits ranging from automation efficiencies to better audience targeting.

India, during the same time frame, saw programmatic rise 797%. Australia followed, rising 325%. Rounding off the top three, Brazil rose 264%.

Marketers also spent budgets on video programmatic advertising. Between January and June of 2018, approximately one third of all money spent programmatically went toward video. Between the first half of 2017 and the first half of 2018, the share of all in-app video ad spend conducted programmatically rose from 53% to 85%.

The analysis also looked at how programmatic deals were conducted on the InMobi Exchange since 2017. The amount of money spent via private marketplace deals (PMPs) grew 71%. Some 65% of all programmatic transactions on InMobi’s network were conducted via open exchange, while 35% occurred through PMPs.

Consumer packaged goods led the way when it came to growth per market segment. CPG companies spent 42% of all money spent on mobile in-app advertising by this group was conducted programmatically. This group also spent 53% of all programmatic video spending.

Frisbie said there are two main reasons why in-app grew like it did. First, CPG advertisers have been big adopters of programmatic buying. Second, in-app media works extremely well for the performance metrics that CPG clients measure.

"CPG companies are not typically measuring success based on driving desktop or mobile website visits, since they don't control the retail channel," she said. "Since CPG marketers, like many other verticals, aren't always looking to drive website visits, CPG clients are able to execute effective connected device versus browser strategies."

Frisbie said CPG clients are looking at brand lift, multi-touch attribution, audience guarantees such as against Nielsen DAR, viewability, video completion rates and engagement. These are the exact type of measurements, along with footfall attribution, that in-app media is extremely effective at driving.  

Financial services came in at No. 2 with 10% of all deals, followed by Automotive at 7%, Media and Entertainment at 7%, Health and Medical at 6%, Retail at 5%, and Tech at 4%.

Food and beverage also spend on video through programmatic channels, about 44%.

Still, Frisbie is surprised at the rate in which the media continues to grow ?It proves how it’s becoming more mainstream faster than initially predicted," she said. "It wasn’t long ago that it was viewed with reticence."