What's on the Horizon for CTV and Programmatic in 2025?

As we look toward 2025, the worlds of CTV and programmatic advertising are evolving unprecedentedly. Both CTV and programmatic will continue to dominate the digital ad space, but this rapid growth also brings its own set of challenges and opportunities for advertisers, publishers, SSPs, and DSPs. Below, I’ll break down the key trends, insights, and predictions and how they’ll shape the advertising landscape.

The Expanding Role of CTV

CTV continues to rise as a primary way for brands to connect with highly engaged audiences. As more consumers cut the cord on traditional cable, they’re moving to platforms like Roku, Amazon Fire, and smart TVs. This shift means brands need to be where viewers are, and CTV is now seen as a prime space for targeted ads. What makes 2025 especially significant is the expected integration of retail media networks and CTV. Retailers will increasingly use CTV as part of their overall omnichannel strategy, using their first-party data to deliver highly relevant ads.

Challenge: While CTV is growing, fragmentation remains a major challenge. With multiple devices, platforms, and services in play, advertisers need to ensure a seamless ad experience across all of them. They must optimize across these different platforms without losing consistency in message and performance.

Solution: Programmatic advertising, particularly AI-driven solutions, will help advertisers automate and optimize cross-platform campaigns to meet this demand for more streamlined media buys. Advanced targeting techniques will help marketers engage consumers with the right message across different devices.

Programmatic Advertising: Entering a New Era

In the programmatic space, automation and machine learning will continue to take center stage in 2025, allowing advertisers to target audiences more precisely and efficiently than ever before. AI and machine learning tools will drive real-time bidding and deliver insights that help brands optimize their media spend.

Ad Spend Predictions: Programmatic ad spending is expected to increase substantially by 2025, thanks in large part to the growing use of programmatic technologies in CTV, Digital Out-of-Home, and even audio advertising. This growth will push advertisers to rely more heavily on data-driven, programmatic solutions for effective audience targeting and campaign management. Programmatic’s share of the total digital ad spend will keep rising as it extends beyond desktop and mobile into more dynamic formats like CTV, gaming, and podcast ads.

Publishers and SSPs: Publishers will continue to rely on SSPs to maximize the value of their inventory. However, it’s predicted that direct deals and private marketplaces will grow in popularity as publishers aim for greater control and transparency over the programmatic process. This shift will help reduce the reliance on open exchanges and give publishers more control over who buys their inventory, what price they get, and which ads are displayed.

The Evolving Role of SSPs and DSPs

2025 will be an important year for both SSPs and DSPs.

SSPs: To differentiate themselves, SSPs will need to evolve beyond just inventory management. We’re seeing a push for supply-path optimization, where advertisers look for more transparent and efficient paths to purchase ad inventory. SSPs that can offer a more direct, transparent connection between buyers and sellers, alongside unique formats like CTV and video, will become preferred partners. Those who focus on quality over quantity—particularly in video formats—will stand out.

DSPs: On the demand side, DSPs will continue to innovate by offering more granular audience segmentation and improved media-buying efficiency. For DSPs, a big focus will be on the use of first-party data and privacy-compliant data sources as third-party cookies continue to phase out. Contextual targeting will play a larger role, and we’re likely to see more DSPs offering solutions that combine audience data with contextual insights for better ad performance.

Privacy and Data Compliance

As we move into 2025, data privacy regulations will tighten, pushing both buyers and sellers to find solutions that respect user privacy while still delivering targeted ads. With regulations like GDPR and CPRA becoming stricter, the industry will shift further away from third-party cookies and rely more on first-party data for audience insights. This will impact how DSPs and SSPs collect and use data for ad targeting.

Challenges: The biggest challenge here is balancing privacy with precision in ad targeting. While consumers want personalized ads, they also demand more control over how their data is used.

Solution: Brands and publishers will need to invest in compliant, first-party data strategies and embrace targeting options like contextual advertising, where ads are served based on the content of the media being consumed rather than user behavior. Expect to see more data clean rooms—secure environments where data can be shared without compromising consumer privacy—being used to support targeted advertising.

Ad Spend Shifts and Market Opportunities

As programmatic and CTV become more integrated, we’re seeing shifts in ad spend. While digital ad spend continues to grow, sectors like CTV, digital audio, and DOOH are seeing some of the biggest jumps. By 2025, CTV ad spend is predicted to surge as brands look to capitalize on the shift from linear TV to streaming platforms. Retail media, particularly, will be a major driver of growth as retailers use their first-party data to drive highly targeted campaigns on CTV.

The Challenge for Advertisers: With more competition in the CTV space, CPMs are expected to rise. Advertisers will need to carefully manage their media budgets, ensuring that they are maximizing the value of their spend across platforms.

Solution: Marketers will need to focus on cross-platform attribution to ensure they are measuring the success of campaigns across all devices, from CTV to mobile to desktop. Those that adopt a holistic view of their campaign performance will be better positioned to optimize spend.

Looking Ahead

As we prepare for 2025, it’s clear that both CTV and programmatic advertising are set to grow in importance. But with that growth comes increased complexity—more platforms, more data, more privacy concerns. To succeed, advertisers, publishers, SSPs, and DSPs will need to stay adaptable, leveraging advanced technology and first-party data to navigate this evolving landscape.

For those who are prepared to embrace these changes, 2025 offers a wealth of opportunity. The key will be staying agile, investing in the right tools, and focusing on both the consumer experience and the ethical use of data.

What do you think will be the biggest shift in CTV and programmatic next year?

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