Programmatic advertising has transformed the role of network service providers (NSPs) in determining how space is bought, sold and managed. New technological developments have made it possible to harness automation to replace a wide array of manual processes—such as contract execution and financial resource allocation—to display the right advertisements to the right consumers at the right time.

In 2017, global consumer expenditure on entertainment content (video, games and music) worldwide continued to climb. By 2021, this spend is set to reach $439 billion globally, a 17 percent increase from 2017, according to the latest Global Entertainment Content Outlook report from Futuresource Consulting.