Emerging Programmatic Advertising Trends You Need in 2024

The rise in the adoption of white-label software

White-label software as a service (SaaS) is probably a better and more economical place to start for many businesses looking for more programmatic control than developing proprietary platforms.

The white-label software market enables businesses to enjoy all the advantages of platform ownership while devoting zero resources to internal software development.

You can achieve three objectives by executing this programmatic advertising trend in 2024:

Increased use of machine learning and AI

The next programmatic advertising trend is the increased use of artificial intelligence and machine learning. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are now used far more frequently in programmatic advertising for effective campaign outcomes.

The use of machine learning in advertising has been on the rise over the past few years, and this trend is only certain to continue. In reality, numerous ad tech companies and ad networks are launching more products dependent on machine learning for better optimization of the campaigns and to lessen the workload associated with granular adjustments.

A customer's browser history, installed apps, previous transactions, interactions with adverts, and similarity to previously identified high-value consumers can all be taken into account by AI to give predictive insights. Additionally, these analytics assist advertisers in enhancing their targeting and bidding while boosting ROI.

More focus on transparency

A growing programmatic advertising trend is transparency. In response, marketers are requesting more openness from vendors and publishers about the placement of ads, data usage, and measurement.

The adoption of sellers.json, ads.txt, and other industry standards are a few transparency initiatives. And with the introduction of the Transparency Center, supply chain fraud and false inventory claims may finally end.

Although it seems complex, it's straightforward: ads.txt, app-ads.txt, and sellers.json get thoroughly crawled over by the Transparency Center crawler, and any information gathered is then made public in the Transparency Center.

As a result, the Transparency Center is a public database that allows businesses involved in the advertising supply chain to disclose data in an explorable and downloadable manner on audience groups, structured metadata about publishers, ad tech middlemen, and purchasers.

In-housing programmatic campaigns

Today, businesses are increasingly managing their programmatic ad buying in growing numbers. It improves the entire campaign and makes the advertising process more transparent.

Two primary benefits are cost savings and resource efficiency, and it's simple to understand why. Companies can invest in active marketing campaigns by removing costs with third-party services and data maintenance. This should eventually lead to a higher return on advertising expenditures.

Internal programmatic advertising will become a more competitive option for marketers in 2024 who want more transparency and control over their media initiatives.

Faster growth of the programmatic industry with 5G

The introduction of 5G is one of the most eagerly awaited programmatic advertising trends that will have a wide-ranging effect on the world market.

The fifth generation of mobile networks, or 5G, is 20 times faster than LTE (Long-Term Evolution). The speed can go up to 20 GB/second, resulting in fast-moving real-time bids.

It is simple to understand the 5G process. The speed increases, and so do the bids. Advertising media typically has higher DPI levels. High-quality videos attract more attention and boost each advertisement's effectiveness. Advertising is more visible as ad blockers are less frequently used to speed up page loading.

Furthermore, the audience will get individualized and immersive experiences due to the dynamic content display. For next-generation publishers, 5G will create new opportunities.

According to experts, the faster and easier access to data predicted with 5G would drive the growth of mobile app advertising, OTT consumption and advertising, and video ad formats like DOOH. The gaming industry will completely get transformed by 5G. It will open up a new advertising and streaming media format called AR/VR advertising.

Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) ads' advancement

The programmatic strategy seems to maintain a huge percentage of DOOH ad spend in a few years as more digital screens for ads start to surface across the nation.

Everyone should take advantage of the DOOH ad tech trend. This real-time advertising has tracking, customization, retargeting, and attribution options. Business-wise, DOOH has been quite successful and has altered the ad-buying process.

Due to its various audience targeting strategies and the opportunity it provides for contextual marketing to assume a prominent role, this media newbie should profit in a world without cookies.

Despite being relatively new, DOOH is becoming a more popular programmatic advertising trend because of its adaptability and ability to successfully increase brand recognition, solidifying itself as a long-term element of marketers' omnichannel media mix.

CTV, OTT, and In-app ad formats will continue to grow

Ad tech companies are adapting their advertising strategies to match how the world is becoming more mobile and dynamic. The growth of connected TV, OTT, and mobile-friendly ad formats has been meteoric over the past few years, and 2024 will witness a stratospheric surge in this programmatic advertising trend.

According to Business Today, There are between 20 and 22 million internet-connected TVs in India, and reports claim that by 2027, advertising on these connected TVs will soar. Besides, the transmission of sporting events like the IPL and FIFA on OTT platforms and CTV has sped up ad spend.

Programmatic ad formats to follow

Over 200 million people in the US alone use OTT services like Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+. Connected TV devices, like Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and Apple TV, are now in over half of all American households and continue to grow in popularity.

Further, in-app advertisers make up a sizable part of digital ad spend, and the mobile devices gaming industry and apps will generate over $188.9 billion in revenue by the end of the year.

Due to characteristics like intelligent targeting, cost-effectiveness, optimization, and the ability to keep up with current events, these channels are a powerhouse of digital advertising. Since they provide engaging and personalized advertising that is less likely to be missed or overlooked, advertisers are now embracing these programmatic advertising trends to reach their target consumers. As 2024 progresses, more marketers will likely embrace these cutting-edge ad formats to stay ahead of the competition.

Plenty of video content

Without a doubt, one of the most prevailing kinds of entertainment today is video content. Using engaging short-form videos to keep users interested is the secret to the success of apps like TikTok and Instagram.

In particular, programmatic video advertising trends will prevail more in 2024 as 5G becomes more widespread. Additionally, video ads are substantially more likely to capture viewers' attention and have a click-through rate that is 18 times higher than that of banner ads.

ROI is now more important than ever

It may seem apparent and perennial for programmatic advertising to focus on maximizing return on investment (ROI). It is, nevertheless, very significant this year.

Savvy marketers will rely even more on programmatic advertising. They will be able to profit by combining targeting opportunities, quality media, and supply-path transparency. So choosing a programmatic advert is a chance to convert headwinds into tailwinds and make the most of every ad dollar spent.

Alternatives to third-party cookies are emerging

The time has come for publishers to prioritize first-party cookie collection, as third-party cookies will become obsolete in 2024–2024. Contextual targeting will prevail in the cookie-less world, and it is only possible with first-party data. Ads will be more relevant with contextual targeting, increasing impression volume.

Discussions about Google ending support for cookies have been going on for a while. The date of the support's termination was the second quarter of 2022, but this was then delayed to 2024 and then again to 2024.

Therefore, even if we still have time to settle everything, the third-party cookie's demise is inevitable. Marketers won't be able to follow users throughout the web and deliver personalized adverts any time soon, thanks to third-party cookies.

Although these changes are challenging for the entire sector, we should embrace them and seize the opportunity to reaffirm our conviction that user data is protected.

However, the so-called identity solutions, which are more prevalent, will be the most effective way to deal with the disappearance of third-party cookies in 2024.

Real-Time Bidding (RTB)

Real-time bidding also referred to as open auction or RTB, is a technique for buying and selling ad spaces and will undoubtedly take over in the years to come. The OpenRTB (oRTB), an open-source protocol and set of APIs, facilitates real-time bidding between buyers and sellers and is a standard for the programmatic buying and sale of advertising.

When a user accesses an app or webpage that uses programmatic advertising, an auction for interested advertisers to bid for ad space begins. Because the advertisers indirectly bid on the user's impression, this bidding is also known as an "ad impression auction."

It offers an even language that both sides can use to communicate topics like price, ad size, and target market. Most significant DSPs, SSPs, and exchanges support OpenRTB, which has emerged as an industry standard.