Programmatic has been hailed by advertisers across the globe for its potential to streamline the ad buying process, while offering target audiences at scale. India has witnessed a three-fold increase in share of digital display ad spend since 2015, accounting for 19% in 2018. This is slated to increase by 57% in 2019 to an estimated $191 million in spends and accounting for 25% of digital display ad spending.

This research – based on a survey of more than 100 digital marketers with the responsibility of media buying across leading brands and agencies in India – highlights the current landscape, challenges undermining the in-app programmatic advertising industry and a glimpse into its future.

Key findings from this research include –

1. 2 out of 3 brand marketers possess only a basic working knowledge of programmatic advertising. Despite that, 38% of these advertisers conduct their programmatic media buying in-house and another 52% do so via both in-house and agency channels.

2. 8 out of 10 advertisers see efficiency gains with programmatic buying. Programmatic buying of inventory reduces the human involvement and the chances for errors and delays, thus improving the efficiency of a campaign instantaneously.

3. When evaluating programmatic partners, performance along with control and transparency in reporting are the top two criteria for brands.

4. Lack of education and awareness around programmatic processes is the single biggest barrier to programmatic adoption in India.