WOO study finds private marketplaces dominate global pDOOH trading [part 2]

Private marketplace (PMP) deals accounted for more than three-quarters of global programmatic digital out of home (pDOOH) advertising spend in 2025, according to the second report from the World Out of Home Organization’s (WOO) Global pDOOH Expenditure Study.

The report provides the first independently aggregated, supply-side view of how programmatic DOOH is traded globally, based on revenue submissions from 12 supply-side platforms (SSPs) that were aggregated by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC).

It follows the study’s first report, which found global pDOOH advertising spend reached $1.339 billion in 2025.

Relationship-driven market

The second report, Verticals, DSP & Transaction Analysis, examines how pDOOH spend is distributed across advertiser sectors, demand-side platforms (DSPs) and transaction types.

Among its key findings:

• 75.7% of global pDOOH spend was traded through private marketplace deals.

• 65.5% of spend flowed through OOH-specialist DSPs rather than omni-channel DSPs.

• Retail, finance, and business and industrial advertisers were the largest spending categories globally.

  

According to WOO, the findings suggest pDOOH continues to operate primarily as a premium, relationship-driven advertising channel rather than an open-auction digital marketplace.

WOO president Tom Goddard said the two reports together provide the industry with its first comprehensive supply-side view of global pDOOH trading.

“Together, these two reports give the global pDOOH industry something it has not had before: a complete, supply-side verified account of how this channel is traded — where spend flows, through whom, and in what structures.”

He added that WOO intends to continue publishing the study annually as participation expands and market coverage becomes more granular.

Specialist DSPs retain the lead

Charles Parry-Okeden, WOO’s vice-president and global lead for audience measurement and data, said the data challenges assumptions that pDOOH has evolved in the same way as other digital programmatic channels.

“The data tells you something important: pDOOH did not become a scaled programmatic market by following digital’s playbook. This is a channel that still primarily transacts on nuance, expertise and relationships — not open auction.”

He said closer alignment between verified OOH measurement and the wider digital advertising ecosystem is expected to accelerate omni-channel opportunities.

Retail leads advertiser categories

The report also highlights differences in how advertiser sectors use pDOOH.

Gideon Adey, principal at GUROOH, said retail’s leading position reflects the medium’s ability to target audiences based on location and timing, while consumer electronics advertisers are making extensive use of omni-channel buying strategies.

“Retail’s leadership reflects a channel used for its geographical and temporal precision. Consumer Electronics’ 72% omni-channel share confirms that sophisticated advertisers are already integrating pDOOH into cross-platform campaigns.”

Annual benchmark for pDOOH

The WOO Global pDOOH Expenditure Study is based on confidential revenue submissions from participating SSPs, with PwC independently aggregating the data to protect commercial confidentiality. Where market coverage was incomplete, scaling factors were applied to produce indicative market estimates, with the methodology disclosed in the report.

The 2026 study covers full-year 2025 data and is intended to become an annual benchmark for measuring the global programmatic DOOH market.

Click on the image to read the full report.