Research by information and insight company, IHS, has revealed that online video advertising among Europe’s big five, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, is growing at an incredible rate.

Despite the report, created in association with SpotXchange, claiming that 2012 was a weak macroeconomic environment, year-on-year growth ranged from 36% in Germany to 103% in Spain. The video market is said to have swelled even though there was a drop in the broader advertising market.

Programmatic video advertising, the automated technology that distributes ads to a specific audience, is behind much of the sector’s growth along with the real-time bidding subset, which is becoming increasingly popular among advertisers.

Programmatic Video Will Grow Tenfold

Between 2012 and 2015, programmatic video is expected grow tenfold in the European big five. In 2012 the market stood at €35.9 million, whereas in two years it will amount to €369 million before moving up to €627 million by 2017.

On average, programmatic video advertising between 2012-2017 will rise by 96% in France and 95% Germany, the fastest rate in Europe. During the same period, Spain and Italy will grow by 91% and 84% respectively.

The UK has a more evolved display and video advertising market, which means it is considered to be one to two years ahead of the other big five countries. As such, video programmatic revenue will grow by just 61% from 2012-2017.

European Programmatic Share

Share of programmatic video in the UK is currently at 18%, having doubled since 2012. However, in the next four years growth will slow exponentially before it reaches a 39% share in 2017.

Compare this to Germany, which had a bit more of standing start compared to the rest of the big five. Its 2% in 2012 will increase to 13% by next year, before notching up a programmatic video share that is slightly under 27%.

IHS recommends countries such as Germany, which lag in the adoption of digital innovation such as mobile advertising, display RTB and e-commerce, learn from others when building best practices and strategies.