By Ben Baker, Managing Director, Vistar Media APAC
For years, we’ve been able to see the momentum behind programmatic digital out-of-home (DOOH) across markets, but it has been harder to quantify that growth consistently.
The World Out of Home Organization’s latest Global Expenditure Report changes that, providing a clearer benchmark for the scale of out-of-home (OOH), DOOH and programmatic DOOH around the world – and where the greatest opportunities for growth remain.
The APAC region accounted for US$29.7 billion in OOH spend in 2025, out of US$54.2 billion globally, making it the world’s largest OOH market by a considerable margin. DOOH already represents 55.7% of total OOH spend across APAC, showing just how far the region’s digital transformation has progressed.
A market ready for its next phase
That level of digitisation creates a strong foundation for programmatic growth. As more premium inventory becomes connected and buying capabilities become more sophisticated, advertisers have greater opportunity to use data and automation to make DOOH more addressable, flexible and measurable.
Despite the scale of digital OOH across APAC, programmatic accounted for just 2.8% of total DOOH spend in 2025.
Of course, APAC is not one market, and the pace of development differs significantly from country to country.
Australia and New Zealand are among the region’s most digitally mature OOH markets. Across the two markets, DOOH represented 76.7% of total OOH spend in 2025, according to the WOO report. That level of digitisation is creating the right conditions for agencies, brands and media owners to become more advanced in how they plan, buy and measure OOH.
We’re already seeing that sophistication translate into more dynamic and data-driven activation. Advertisers are using programmatic DOOH to move beyond simply buying screens, instead using data to inform when, where and under what conditions their campaigns appear.
Southeast Asia is at a different stage of development, but the opportunity is just as exciting. Investment in high-quality digital inventory continues to increase, buying capabilities are improving and cities such as Bangkok and Jakarta now offer some of the most impressive DOOH environments in the region.
These markets show what is possible when premium screens, strong creative and programmatic technology come together. As connectivity improves, advertisers will have greater ability to activate relevant campaigns at scale across some of APAC’s fastest-growing urban centres.
There is also enormous potential across the region’s largest advertising markets.
China alone generated US$18.2 billion in OOH spend in 2025, while Japan accounted for US$3.2 billion. Markets of that scale don’t need dramatic shifts in adoption to create meaningful growth. As programmatic infrastructure and buying capabilities develop, even incremental changes can have a major impact on the regional market.
Building the foundations for growth
Some screens across APAC are not yet internet-enabled, while some content management systems were never designed to support programmatic transactions. Fragmentation between platforms can also make connectivity and consistent activation more complicated than it needs to be.
But these are not permanent barriers. They are part of the evolution of the market.
Technology is advancing quickly. Content management systems are becoming more sophisticated, connectivity solutions are helping bring more screens online and media owners are continuing to invest in the infrastructure needed to support programmatic demand.
At the same time, buyers are becoming more confident in what programmatic DOOH can deliver.
The value of programmatic is not automation for automation’s sake. It is the ability to make OOH more responsive and relevant. Advertisers can activate campaigns based on location, audience, weather, time of day, sales performance and other meaningful signals, while having the flexibility to adjust activity as conditions change.
That combination of data, automation and flexibility is what makes the channel so powerful.
The WOO data makes the opportunity clear. APAC already has the scale and a substantial digital OOH ecosystem, but programmatic adoption has not yet caught up with that digital maturity.
Closing that gap will take continued collaboration across the industry. Technology providers need to simplify integration, media owners need to continue connecting premium inventory, and agencies and brands need to keep building their understanding of how programmatic can improve campaign outcomes.
Measurement will be equally important. Consistent benchmarks give advertisers greater clarity and confidence, which in turn supports investment. The introduction of independently aggregated programmatic DOOH expenditure data gives the industry a clearer starting point from which to track that progress.
For APAC, the opportunity is now to turn its digital scale into a more connected, flexible and measurable ecosystem – one that reflects the diversity and energy of the region and helps more brands capture a better kind of attention in the real world.
