Global spending on programmatic digital out of home advertising reached an estimated $1.339 billion in 2025, marking a major expansion in automated outdoor media buying and highlighting significant room for growth across markets where digital advertising infrastructure is already well established.
The figure represents 7 per cent of the worldwide digital out of home advertising market, according to the World Out of Home Organization’s inaugural Global pDOOH Expenditure Study 2026.
The study, independently aggregated by PwC from confidential revenue submissions by 12 supply side platforms across more than 40 markets, found that the development of programmatic advertising varies sharply from one region to another. Brandspur Brand News reports that the findings offer one of the clearest benchmarks yet for measuring how advertisers are adopting automated systems to buy and activate digital outdoor advertising.
The Americas accounted for the largest regional share, with $667 million in programmatic digital out of home expenditure and a 14.1 per cent penetration rate. The United States alone generated $545.5 million, making it the world’s largest individual pDOOH market, while Canada recorded $73.1 million and a 15 per cent penetration rate.
But spending volume did not necessarily translate into the highest level of programmatic adoption. Germany recorded a 31.8 per cent penetration rate, more than twice the United States’ 15.9 per cent. Belgium followed with 25.5 per cent, while France reached 16.7 per cent.
Europe, the Middle East and Africa collectively generated $521 million in pDOOH expenditure, representing 9.4 per cent penetration. Western Europe accounted for $346.7 million and recorded a 21.3 per cent penetration rate.
Within Africa, South Africa represented the largest concentration of pDOOH expenditure. However, the study did not publish individual figures for countries that failed to meet its minimum reporting threshold.
The sharpest contrast emerged in Asia Pacific, where pDOOH expenditure stood at $151 million, equivalent to just 1.7 per cent penetration. Australia and New Zealand accounted for $92.3 million, or 61 per cent of the region’s programmatic spending.
Eastern Asia presented an even larger gap between market size and automated adoption. Japan, South Korea and Mainland China collectively have a $7.3 billion digital out of home advertising base, yet only 0.6 per cent of that market was transacted through programmatic channels in 2025.
That combination of a sizeable existing advertising market and low programmatic penetration makes Eastern Asia the biggest structural expansion opportunity identified in the study.
The report also showed that programmatic outdoor advertising is developing through controlled trading environments rather than relying primarily on open exchanges. Private Marketplace deals accounted for 75.7 per cent of global pDOOH expenditure, worth about $1.014 billion.
Specialist demand side platforms focused on out of home advertising generated $877 million, representing 65.5 per cent of global pDOOH expenditure. Platforms included in the study were Broadsign, DAX, Vistar Media, VIOOH and Hivestack by Perion.
For advertisers and media owners, the figures point to a market that is becoming more automated while retaining transaction structures designed specifically around outdoor advertising inventory.
The World Out of Home Organization said the study was developed to create a common benchmark for tracking expenditure and adoption across markets. Charles Parry Okeden, WOO’s Vice President and Global Lead for Audience Measurement and Data, said the research helps distinguish markets with large transaction volumes from those where programmatic buying accounts for a greater share of digital out of home activity.
The methodology was based on confidential market level submissions made directly to PwC by the participating supply side platforms. PwC aggregated and sense checked the information but did not audit the individual submissions or provide assurance over their accuracy, reliability or completeness.
WOO therefore classifies the figures as indicative market estimates. Country level data was only disclosed where at least three supply side platforms submitted information for that market. Data from markets below that threshold could still contribute to regional and global totals.
Tom Goddard, President of the World Out of Home Organization, said the participation of the supply side platforms reflected efforts within the sector to improve transparency and establish stronger measurement standards.
Gideon Adey, Principal at GUROOH and a contributor to the study’s measurement methodology, said consistent parameters were applied across the 12 submissions. The resulting figures also highlighted less obvious developments, including Germany’s strong penetration rate, New Zealand’s position among the leading markets and the concentration of African expenditure in South Africa.
The study provides a baseline for advertisers, agencies and media owners to track how programmatic digital out of home develops in the years ahead. Its figures show that the market has already moved beyond the billion dollar mark, while adoption remains uneven across regions with substantial digital outdoor advertising capacity.
For businesses operating in the outdoor advertising ecosystem, that gap could shape where future investment in technology, inventory and automated buying systems is concentrated as more advertisers look to combine the reach of outdoor media with the targeting and transaction capabilities of programmatic advertising.
