As the out-of-home (OOH) sector continues on a trajectory of growth, what will next year bring? We asked the ad tech industry what they predict for the OOH space in 2026.
Just last week, the UK's out-of-home advertising body, Outsmart, reported that the sector recorded growth of 4.4% for Q3, totalling almost £377m. Despite classic OOH only accounting for 33% of spend within the OOH space, its increase just about doubled that of digital, at 6.5% and 3.3% respectively, representing a significant shift in their growth trends.
Now with Q4 now in full swing, many brands are going all out on their OOH campaigns as they welcome in the Christmas season, hoping to attract shoppers during their present-buying quests around town.
Meanwhile, the industry is working on improving the medium's transparency. A couple of months ago, the Out of Home Advertising Association of America (OAAA) introduced the Programmatic OOH Transparency Pledge in collaboration with leading programmatic platforms in the ad tech industry.
The pledge claims to be a "unified set of principles designed to highlight the high standards that programmatic OOH adheres to and ensure trust and clarity in every transaction". Anna Bager, the OAAA's CEO, talked us through the pledge on the MadTech Podcast last week, expanding on why transparency in the sector is so critical.
Looking to the future, the value of the OOH market is projected to soar to over USD$26bn (£19.71bn) by 2034. The principal drivers expected to drive this growth include digital transformation, allowing advertisers to execute more dynamic campaigns with better targeting in real-time, and accelerated urbanisation alongside infrastructure development, among other factors.
There's still quite some time until 2034 - what could we start seeing change from next year? We asked experts from across the ad tech landscape for their 2026 predictions.
2026 will be the year that digital OOH elevates from being digital's sidekick and starts proving where it genuinely leads. Smart brands are pushing for broader reach in trusted environments that deliver real-world attention with impact. DOOH will step forward as the grown-up in the room and finally claim the spotlight it's been warming up for, fuelled by better data, smarter creative optimisation, and a renewed focus on context. As marketers chase measurable, privacy-safe channels, DOOH's blend of scale, credibility, and innovation will make it an essential pillar of modern media planning rather than a supporting act.
Susie McAvoy, Managing Director, UK, Mx Location
Programmatic DOOH (pDOOH) is the powerhouse within omnichannel campaigns, driving brand lift and performance. Traditional DOOH is being used by advertisers for smarter targeting, dynamic delivery, measurement and retargeting, while smaller brands - once priced out - can finally compete with surgical precision. pDOOH now claims bigger slices of omnichannel budgets as its ability to reach increasingly fragmented audiences while amplifying other channel performances is recognised.
When it comes to the new Less Healthy Food advertising regulations, DOOH remains the last channel where brands can go big, offering: reach, high impact, product-led creative and unapologetic visibility, with compliance. As retail media dominates the agenda, pDOOH sits in the perfect position: the final moment of influence before purchase, when consumers are most receptive.
Looking ahead, expect greater use of niche environments like offices, gyms and residential, as marketers unlock the full diversity and unique strengths of the DOOH ecosystem.
Rebecca Callaghan, DOOH Lead Specialist, Azerion / HAWK
In 2026, programmatic DOOH is likely to evolve from AI that merely assists to AI that actively guides and anticipates. Today, AI already accelerates brief responses and campaign setup. The next step is the emergence of agentic systems capable of supporting the entire workflow more intelligently, interpreting the intent behind a campaign, maintaining strategic coherence as conditions change, across campaigns, and identifying adjustments that can significantly improve alignment with the briefs and the advertiser.
In practical terms, these agents will operate as a persistent intelligence backbone across the whole lifecycle. Human decision-making remains central, but AI will take a more proactive role in enhancing clarity, continuity, and overall campaign flow in the year ahead.
Hayssam Soueidan, Chief Technical Officer, Displayce
Will 2026 be the year of big OOH? Yes. Because big will be big, whilst small can also be big.
To unpack that: IPA TouchPoints data shows OOH has broadly maintained its share of total commercial media time by buyable media type since 2015 to 2024, dropping slightly from 28% to 24%. That share is standard across all age groups. As such, OOH remains a valuable broadcast channel. When you add the advances we can make in geo-targeting our OOH placements, along with the digitisation of OOH formats, it means the medium has all the tools to be truly impactful. Therefore, OOH is the channel in which we can go big, both from a creative and a media perspective: Big will be big.
Why small can also be big is down to the earned media potential for single OOH executions to create viral fame. This is something that brands like the BBC have embraced well over the years. This thinking democratises the phenomenal impact OOH can drive, and makes it accessible to more and more brands.
As such, numerous roads are leading to OOH in 2026, and the impact will be, well, big.
Rik Moore, Managing Partner Strategy, The Kite Factory
Looking ahead, digital out-of-home advertising is poised to move beyond its supporting role and emerge as the amplification engine of the omnichannel ecosystem. The data is increasingly clear: DOOH doesn't just work in isolation; it fundamentally enhances the performance of every channel it combines with, and campaigns incorporating pDOOH achieve significantly higher engagement rates.
While it's unclear if 2026 will see sustainability transform from a tick-box exercise into a genuine competitive advantage, it is clear that AI is maturing from a tool that makes activations faster to one that makes campaigns fundamentally smarter.
With multi-market campaigns already accounting for 37% of VIOOH's H1 2025 revenue, cross-border programmatic DOOH will become routine rather than innovative. Perhaps most significantly, dynamic creative optimisation will evolve beyond messaging to encompass strategic elements like channel mix and budget allocation. The future isn't just programmatic - it's intelligent, integrated, and amplified.
Jean-Christophe Conti, CEO, VIOOH
2025 has been a challenging year with a lot of uncertainty in the market. While OOH growth has slowed for the first time, we expect it to bounce back in 2026. Early forecasts point to UK OOH market growth of 4.5% next year. At the same time, marketers are rediscovering the power of long-term brand building. That plays directly to OOH's strengths: its steady, public presence that makes brands feel familiar, trusted, and culturally there.
Creativity is where 2026 gets exciting. OOH is far more versatile than people often realise. It can reach lots of people at once, but it can also tailor messages to moments or audiences. There's an untapped potential from simple 3D special builds to interactive screens and immersive experiences that can also be linked with other channels, such as social, influencer, commerce, and mobile. It helps ideas travel further, driving greater outcomes for brands.
Nicole Lonsdale, Chief Client Officer, WPP Media OOH
As AI-generated content saturates digital feeds, advertisers are rediscovering the trust of real-world advertising. With programmatic spending projected to reach 65% of US DOOH by 2029, the medium delivers authenticity that algorithms can't replicate.
Growth alone won't define success. DOOH stands at a critical inflection point where transparency and standards are being established. Learning from display, app, and CTV's painful lessons, where only 43.9% of every USD$1,000 (£752) entering a DSP reaches consumers, both advertisers and publishers demand better.
Publishers face a defining choice: continue relying on biased ad servers controlling data flows, or embrace independent platforms exposing every auction detail. 2026 will be the year standardisation takes hold, establishing the foundation for programmatic DOOH's next growth phase built on independence and accountability.
Kieran Greene, Founder & CEO, Shinka.io
I think 2026 has a chance to become the year that OOH finally steps into a new era. From what I see at Aceex, the market is quietly preparing for a serious shift. We see advertisers are rediscovering OOH not as a static billboard channel but as a data-driven, highly measurable environment.
The biggest change is coming from the fusion of mobility data, real-time bidding, and DOOH programmatic quality controls. It feels like the industry is finally catching up with the expectations we had years ago. Brands want transparency, accurate exposure modelling, and flexible budgets. That's why OOH is becoming capable of delivering all of that.
Towards the end of 2025, we also see a lack of budget for OOH and failure to track performance technically. It most likely will be on higher demand but I wouldn't say it will be the year of OOH.