Programmatic DOOH Spend Set to Surge 49% as U.S. Marketers Shift Budgets

Programmatic digital out-of-home is entering a new phase of maturity in the U.S., shifting from an emerging test channel into a core component of digital media strategy. New research from VIOOH suggests that marketers are not only increasing investment sharply, but also rethinking how DOOH fits within broader programmatic and performance-driven planning.

The headline number is striking: U.S. marketers who already buy programmatic DOOH expect to increase spend by an average of 49% over the next 18 months. That marks a significant acceleration from the 30% growth forecast reported just a year earlier, signaling that adoption is moving beyond experimentation into scaled deployment.

Just as important as the growth rate is the projected reach of the channel. Over the past 18 months, it has appeared in 34% of campaigns among recent buyers, up from 30% in 2024. That figure is expected to climb to 52% in the next 18 months—making the U.S. the most aggressive market globally in terms of planned adoption.

From Test Channel to Planning Default

One of the clearest indicators of this evolution is how it is now being planned. According to the VIOOH research, 91% of U.S. marketers incorporated programmatic DOOH into wider digital or programmatic activity over the past year, more than doubling from 41% in 2023.

This shift reflects a structural change in how agencies and MULO brands think about the channel. Rather than treating DOOH as a standalone or “add-on” buy, programmatic DOOH is increasingly being integrated into omnichannel strategies alongside display, video, and social. It is becoming part of the standard programmatic workflow – planned, optimized, and measured using the same frameworks applied to other digital channels.

Growth Funded by Reallocation and New Budgets

The growth in programmatic DOOH investment is being driven primarily by reallocation from existing channels. Among U.S. marketers planning to increase spend, 97% say that budget will come from other digital channels, up from 85% in 2024. A further 68% expect to shift spend from traditional media.

This points to a broader reprioritization within media plans. As programmatic infrastructure expands and measurement improves, programmatic DOOH is increasingly competing directly with established digital channels for performance budgets.

At the same time, the U.S. stands out for its ability to unlock incremental investment. Nearly a third (31%) of marketers say they plan to add entirely new budget for programmatic DOOH, above the 25% global average. This suggests that, in some cases, it is not just replacing other channels but expanding the total addressable media mix.

Performance, Trust—and a Shift in Role

The perception of programmatic DOOH has also evolved. While out-of-home has historically been associated with brand awareness, marketers are increasingly linking programmatic DOOH to measurable business outcomes.

In the U.S., 64% of marketers now associate programmatic DOOH with driving sales and performance, up eight percentage points year over year. Flexibility (62%) and consumer trust (62%) rank closely behind, reinforcing the channel’s dual positioning as both a performance and brand-building medium.

This aligns with a broader shift in how OOH is being valued. Rather than competing directly with digital channels, it is increasingly positioned as a multiplier that amplifies the effectiveness of search, social, and retail media by reinforcing brand presence in the physical world.

At the same time, expectations around measurement are rising. Marketers are evaluating programmatic DOOH not just on reach, but on its ability to drive downstream outcomes thus linking exposure to search lift, store visits, and conversion activity across channels.

Where Growth Is and Isn’t Happening

While investment is accelerating, recent industry data suggests that headline growth can obscure underlying shifts within the broader OOH market. Even as overall OOH revenue has reached record levels, gains have been uneven across formats. Billboard inventory has captured a growing share of spend, while place-based and street-level environments, often better suited to contextual and programmatic activation, have lagged.

This imbalance introduces a strategic tension. The environments most aligned with programmatic DOOH’s strengths – dynamic creative, contextual targeting, and real-time optimization – are not always the ones scaling fastest from a revenue perspective.

That raises an important question: will programmatic DOOH growth concentrate in the most accessible inventory, or expand into the formats that unlock its full potential?

Operational Complexity Spurs New Solutions

As adoption scales, operational challenges are becoming more visible. One of the key friction points in programmatic DOOH has been fragmentation, with buyers often needing to manage multiple supply partners and deals to achieve national coverage.

Curated marketplaces are emerging as a solution. By consolidating inventory across media owners under a single deal ID, these marketplaces simplify activation while improving transparency and supply-path efficiency.

Nearly six in ten (59%) U.S. marketers say they are likely to use curated solutions in the next 18 months, pointing to a growing demand for streamlined buying environments that reduce complexity without sacrificing control.

AI Moves From Experimentation to Execution

Artificial intelligence is also becoming embedded across programmatic DOOH workflows, particularly in the U.S., which leads global markets in adoption. Only 4% of U.S. respondents report not using AI at any stage of their programmatic DOOH activity.

Usage spans the full campaign lifecycle, from creative generation and predictive audience forecasting (both at 47%) to more advanced applications like measurement and attribution modeling, intelligent inventory selection, and dynamic budget allocation (each at 43%).

For agencies and MULO brands, this signals a shift from manual planning toward increasingly automated, data-driven execution. AI is not just optimizing campaigns after launch, it is shaping how they are built from the outset.

A Channel at an Inflection Point

Taken together, the data points to a channel that has moved decisively beyond early adoption. Growth is accelerating, integration into digital planning is nearly universal, and supporting technologies, from AI to curated marketplaces, are maturing in parallel.