28% of UK digital display advertising is bought programmatically

"Almost three in every 10 pounds spent on online display ads in 2013 were bought through ‘programmatic’ technologies, according to the first ever study which quantifies how UK digital display advertising is traded.
Conducted by research and strategy consultancy MTM on behalf of the Internet Advertising Bureau UK (IAB), the “Media Owner Sales Techniques” study shows that of the £1.86 billion¹ spent on display ads across the internet and mobile in 2013, 28% (about £500m million) was traded programmatically. ‘Programmatic’ refers to display ads that are bought and sold using automated systems and processes such as real-time bidding.
Direct sales between publishers and agencies/advertisers accounted for half (51%) of UK digital display ad sales while just over a fifth (22%) were bought through ad networks.
“Prior to this new research there was no reliable way to evaluate how big a role programmatic plays in the display market so it was time to put a stake in the ground and give the industry accurate numbers,” says Tim Elkington, Director of Research & Strategy at the UK’s Internet Advertising Bureau.
“It’s important the industry understands how the market is split as it enables all those involved – media owners, advertisers and agencies – to take advantage of the exciting opportunities programmatic presents.”
Programmatic more dominant in mobile, less so in video
Whilst programmatic accounts for 28% of all digital display ads, this rises to 37% on mobile. In comparison, only 16% of internet video ads (excluding mobile video) are traded programmatically."

Source:  Press release from the IAB (UK), 25th June 2014