All automated buying of media is referred to as programmatic buying in digital advertising. By that definition, even search and social which are biddable mediums come under its ambit. However, here we are referring to media buying through demand-side platforms, which are connected to ad exchanges which in turn are connected to all supply sources across the internet excluding search and social. The buying and selling of ad slots (or impressions) are carried out through an auction mechanism, where several DSPs (Demand Side Platforms) bid for what they consider a valuable audience or impression through a first-price auction. The highest bidder gets the chance to serve an Ad to a particular audience on a particular page at a point in time. 

There have been multiple advancements in this data-led programmatic approach where clients, marketers and media buyers can either utilise their own collected data (first party) or second-party or third-party data along with existing targeting parameters implicit to the DSPs to buy either media or audience most efficiently. The core principles of such a method of media buying wrest on the below factors:

• Ease of use- Automated buying and selling of inventory, less human intervention, less chance of mistakes
• Audience segmentation- Laser sharp niche targeting and retargeting are possible through programmatic channels
• Optimisations of media spends- Avoiding spillage & frequency suppression. This helps marketers extract the maximum value of their ad dollars by controlling exposure to ads a day, week, month and yearly campaign duration level
• Transparency- The ability to tap into high-quality supply and audience at the top priority levels of an ad server (publisher or supply side) facilitates this
• Retargeting capabilities- By bucketing users of different kinds into different profiles through audience collection, based on the different levels of interaction they have had. For example, exposed to an ad impression, clicked on an ad, landed on the advertiser landing page, viewed a certain portion of the video ad
• Real return on investment (ROI) measurement is possible- Measuring ROI cross channel helps understand channel levels contribution and helps allocate ad budgets in the most optimised manner
• It is expected that programmatic buying of digital media will reach a share of 42 per cent (Rs 11,659 crore) by 2022. We expect it to grow with a CAGR of 37.35 per cent to reach a spend share of 45 per cent (Rs 16,114 crore) by the end of 2023