Read and put in contextMarket and DOOHProgrammatic DOOH
Programmatic DOOH: Germany leads, private deals worldwide
A new global study puts Germany's programmatic share highest among the large markets. For network operators, what matters is what lies behind share and private marketplace.
What happened
The trade medium invidis (author: John Berkovich) reports that the World Out of Home Organization (WOO) has published a first worldwide study of programmatic DOOH spend. PwC combined confidential data from twelve supply-side platforms in over 40 markets. For 2025 the study arrives at 1.339 billion US dollars, around 7 percent of all DOOH spend. With 31.8 percent, Germany has the highest penetration among the large markets, ahead of Belgium (25.5), France (16.7) and the USA (15.9). Transactions through private marketplaces account for 1.014 billion dollars, which is 75.7 percent of worldwide programmatic spend. According to invidis, Charles Parry-Okeden of the WOO calls the study “a genuine first for our industry” (our translation from the German).
What this means for screen operators
Two figures, two bases. The 31.8 percent describes Germany, the 75.7 percent the whole world. The report does not show how high the share of private marketplaces is in Germany. Whoever joins the two into “three quarters run privately in Germany” claims more than the source says.
What “share” means. According to invidis it concerns spend in 2025, not the number of screens or plays. For the USA the report spells it out: programmatic spend as a share of the country's DOOH spend. How the study delimits “programmatic” is not in the report. The data come from twelve platforms; revenue that bypasses them may be missing. That is the editors' judgement, not a statement of the source. On its study page the WOO itself calls the results estimates for the whole market.
What a private marketplace is. The report describes it as a closed auction with selected buyers and sellers, as opposed to an open exchange where anyone can bid.
What you can check:
- Pricing. Is there a floor price? Who sets it, and does it apply per site or per network?
- Access. Who decides which buyers may join a private marketplace, and who decides when a buyer changes?
- Approval. Is a bought creative checked before it runs at the site? That applies to open and private routes alike.
- Blocks. Can categories and competitors of the site be excluded before bidding takes place?
- Proof. Do your own playout logs match the platform's billing? Anyone passing figures to buyers should be able to name the date and the measurement source.
- Contract. Who keeps which data, and for how long?
A cautious conclusion (the editors' judgement). A high share says nothing about whether programmatic trading pays off for one small network. A rate of 31.8 percent describes the market, not your site. Only your own figures on free slots, utilisation and revenue show whether the effort is worthwhile.
What the report does not say. No figure for Germany on private marketplaces, nothing on network sizes, venue types or prices, no count of how many operators in Germany take part, and no comparison with the previous year. The study itself was not read in full; what was read is the report and the WOO's study page.
This magazine is published by Kapaso GmbH, which develops software for such screens. The article describes general practice and refers to no product.
