Programmatic in Nordic region

Programmatic advertising has never been as popular as it is now. The Nordic markets have seen rapid growth, due to capitalizing on opportunities that arise in digital. Here are the main programmatic trends and market peculiarities of Nordic region.

Digital Ad Market

Ad revenue on the Nordic market has reached approximately €8.6 billion. Sweden is the largest and most developed market of the Nordic countries, in both size and ad spend potential. The country is expected to generate €2.2 billion from digital advertising in 2021. Norway ranks as the second strongest digital advertising market in the Nordics, bringing in nearly €1.1 billion in ad revenue. Denmark and Finland have also shown positive growth in the programmatic arena. By 2023, programmatic is going to make up 76 percent of the total digital advertising market in Denmark, while Finland is expected to have 73 percent.

Available Audience

Reach: 19.03 million cookies
Impressions: 6.28 billion 

Ad Formats

The Nordic digital market has shifted from desktop to mobile advertising. There is a rising interest in search marketing and  change from “static” to “moving” advertising, which means that video will play a major role in the digital community. Statistics show that between 2017 and 2020, money made from programmatic video in Nordic countries grew rapidly. In Sweden, for instance, programmatic video revenue is expected to reach €56.2 million by 2020 in comparison with €21.5 million in 2017. 

Ad Inventory

Top Websites Ranking:

Sweden: google.com, youtube.com, facebook.com, instagram.com, aftonbladet.se, expressen.se, reddit.com, flashback.org, tradera.com, blocket.se, twitter.com. 

Norway: google.com, youtube.com, facebook.com, instagram.com, finn.no, vg.no, dagbladet.not, twitter.com, nettavisen.no, reddit.com.

Finland: google.com, youtube.com, facebook.com,instagram.com, iltalehti.fi, is.fi, twitter.com, reddit.com, mtvuutiset.fi

Denmark: google.com, youtube.com, facebook.com,instagram.com, ekstrabladet.dk, bt.dk, dba.dk, twitter.com, berlingske.dk, politiken.dk.

Top SSPs used in the Nordic market:

• Google Ad Manager
• Appnexus
• Rubicon Project
• PubMatic
• OpenX
• AdForm
• Sovrn
• SpotX
• Indexexchange
• ImproveDigital

Market Peculiarities

1. About 75 percent of deals in the Nordic region are PMP (private marketplace) driven. Here, buyers have always used publisher white lists as they are concerned about the content and context. There is also a preference to buy local publisher sites first, only going beyond these to achieve scale. This tradition has continued into programmatic advertising. The result is that buyers in the Nordics view PMPs as the most brand-safe environments to access quality inventory. 
2. Viewability of ads throughout the Nordic region is stronger than the global average. For example, desktop display in the Nordic market achieves a 66.5% rate of viewability vs 61.6% for global impressions. Finland and Norway take the leading position with 68% and 67.7% respectively. 
3. Nordic countries also perform well when it comes to avoiding ad fraud problems. Just 0.2% of desktop impressions were flagged for fraudulent activity compared to 0.8% globally, and for mobile web display it is 0.1%, compared to 0.5% across the world.