Quality Time: Top Barrier To Growing Programmatic Is Quality Of Media (New Report)

As we kick off 2025 and consider this year’s goals — from the personal New Year’s resolutions to the bottom-line targets — it’s important to keep looking ahead at the hurdles standing in the way.

For potential programmatic investors, that hurdle is clearly the quality of media.

IAB Europe conducted its annual Attitudes To Programmatic Advertising Report, and in surveying advertisers, agencies, publishers, and ad tech vendors across Europe, the top-ranked key barrier to adopting or growing their programmatic trade was the quality of media (e.g. fraud, brand safety, viewability, transparency).

(Source: IAB Europe)

“This is a clear sign that the industry needs to better educate the buy side on how they can ensure brand safe and trusted environments for their ad campaigns,” the report says. “It is also important that the industry better demonstrates responsible media practices, highlighting the quality controls that are in place for brands.”

Publishers in particular are concerned with quality of media, with 30% listing it as their key barrier. In 2023, only 15% said it was their key barrier, behind the political and economic environment (28%) and costs (26%).

As for key drivers, more publishers (33%) said availability and scale of inventory would impact their investment considerations. Ad tech vendors also had availability and scale as their top driver (35%); advertisers ranked ability to discover audiences at the top (38%) and agencies listed cost efficiencies (33%).

“When respondents were asked what they thought would be the key programmatic growth areas over the next 12 months, 36% of advertisers and 29% of agencies cited AI as being the number one contributor to future programmatic growth,” the report says, adding that the “programmatic landscape” seems destined to grow with “AI-driven personalization.”

“While optimism is high, industry sentiment remains tempered by caution, with a strong focus on first-party data, enhanced audience discovery, and quality assurance as programmatic advertising adapts to a privacy-first, post-cookie era.”