👋 Hello DSP targeting tinkerers and those still pretending desktop banners do anything…

Hope your decks are updated because the market just hit the turbo boost.

Programmatic advertising is growing faster than a VC-funded AI startup with “blockchain” in the name—from twelve-point-three-three-billion-dollars in 2024 to a projected fifteen-point-seven-billion-dollars in 2025. That’s a 27.4% CAGR, which, if you’re wondering, is the ad tech equivalent of winning the lottery with your eyes closed.

And what’s fuelling this budget bonanza? Mobile. Bloody. Phones.

🧠 Let’s break it down – before someone asks what a DSP is again

Mobile isn’t just another channel anymore. It is the plan. In-app and mobile web are now the strategic centre of gravity for programmatic. Why? Because your audience is doomscrolling on the toilet, not clicking display ads on their Windows 7 desktop.

Smartphone penetration has turned into smartphone dependence—and that’s where attention, engagement, and conversions are happening. You either optimise for it or get buried in unread impressions.

DSPs aren’t just marketplaces anymore—they’re surgical tools. With device signals, location data, and advanced segmentation running the show, brands are deploying dynamic creative that shape-shifts mid-scroll to match user behaviour.

Your old audience personas? Cute. We’re now in the era of real-time AI-driven optimisation that moves faster than your client’s feedback cycle.

Programmatic audio is no longer that “interesting idea” in the Q4 roadmap. It’s live, it’s scaling, and it’s filling your media plan’s awkward gaps like a beautifully voiced podcast ad between Dua Lipa tracks.

And header bidding? It’s now fully mobile-native, expanding into premium inventory faster than you can say “preferred deal.”

With third-party cookies becoming as useless as Flash banners, the rise of privacy-safe identity solutions is keeping targeting alive—just less creepy this time.

Unified ID frameworks are enabling cross-device measurement without tripping GDPR landmines. That means mobile-first doesn’t mean mobile-blind anymore. Brands can now see again—and they’re spending accordingly.

Every agency pitch deck now contains the word “compliance” more than “CTR.” If your stack doesn’t play nice with consent frameworks and first-party data, enjoy your new role as the person who updates the client’s UTMs manually.

First-party data has gone from “nice to have” to “entire campaign hinge-point.” Want attribution? Better have a login. Want measurement? Better have clean data. Want a job next year? You get the idea.

Dynamic Creative Optimisation (DCO) has grown up. We’re talking one strategy, one engine, personalised everywhere—across mobile, CTV, DOOH, and even audio. It’s like creative ops got a Red Bull and finally did the thing we’ve all been promising since 2017.

📢 So, what does it all mean for agencies?

If you’re still loading generic banners into your DSP and praying for a 0.12% CTR—bless your heart. But for everyone else:

The takeaway?

Mobile ate programmatic…. and it’s still hungry.

Your media plan either adapts or it becomes another forgotten test-and-learn slide in the agency graveyard.

Now go optimise something before your client asks about TikTok again.