Data: Ad Buyers Will Prioritize DSPs, Publisher-Direct This Year
62% of marketers plan to buy video ads through demand-side platforms, according to an iSpot survey.
Ahead of the 2025 Upfronts, iSpot surveyed hundreds of TV and video media buyers to reveal the latest trends on critical topics for measurement-driven marketers. Even with the current economic uncertainties, an overwhelming majority of brands and agencies expect their marketing budgets to increase or stay the same from previous years. One key finding from the study is around how the TV/video ad buys will be taking place.
- 62% of respondents plan to buy video ads through demand-side platforms (DSPs), suggesting that advertisers want to centralize buying across platforms and content types.
- That being said, a similar share (58%) of advertisers say they’ll conduct publisher-direct buys, indicating that those relationships are still prioritized by a majority of buyers.
- More than half (51%) of buyers will purchase direct from social platforms, and 25% plan to buy ads on smart TV OEMs.
For more insights, download iSpot’s 2025 ad spend and strategy report here.
