Programmatic ad trading is set for high growth in 2015 and will fundamentally change the way advertisers and publishers buy and sell display advertising across all of Europe, according to a new Forrester report. But there’s a catch: Despite the hype around the new protocol for trading native ads through real-time bidding (RTB) mechanisms, the research argues that native programmatic won’t hit scale in 2015.  

The EU programmatic display landscape is complex and fragmented, with adoption evolving at different speeds in the Netherlands and Nordic countries, the UK, France, and Germany. However, two common trends are emerging throughout Europe: 

1) Programmatic ad inventory availability diversifies, and quality is improving. 

Advertisers can now buy a wide range of ad formats through open exchanges, and the growth of private marketplaces increases the pool of premium inventory — such as rich media and premium video placements — available through programmatic buying.  

2) Brand marketers will drive the next wave of programmatic growth. 

Shortcomings in the agency trading desk model have pushed many marketers to become more directly involved in the buying process, especially in the management of vendors forming their ad tech stack. More marketers are considering diminishing the role of the agency trading desk in favor of models that take trading closer to the brand.

To learn more, read this post on Forrester’s B2C Marketing blog.