VIOOH 2026: buyers go all-in on programmatic DOOH

VIOOH’s annual State of the Nation is the loudest barometer of buy-side intent for programmatic DOOH, and the 2026 global edition reads about as bullish as a survey can: nearly every recent buyer plans to spend the same or more, projected investment jumps double digits, and the buy side is building dedicated teams to do it. It’s stated intent, not transacted dollars — but the direction is unambiguous, and it’s the demand current that niche inventory like beauty venues eventually rides.

What the report actually measures

The crucial caveat first, because it’s how people over-read this report every year: State of the Nation is a survey of intent, not a record of transacted spend. A 1,050-respondent attitudinal study where 99% say they’ll maintain or grow investment is a sentiment reading — buyers who have already adopted programmatic DOOH are, unsurprisingly, enthusiastic about it (VIOOH — directional, attitudinal). So the right takeaway is the trend, not the precise percentage: programmatic DOOH demand is rising, broadening, and getting more organised.

On that, the 2026 numbers are consistent and credible: a projected +44% investment lift, programmatic appearing in nearly half of campaigns within 18 months (up from 34%), and — the most telling structural signal — dedicated specialist teams climbing from 32% to 53% in two years. Buyers don’t staff up for a fad.

What it means for beauty

The honest read-across for a beauty network is the same one our evergreen analysis lands on, now with a fresh data point under it:

The demand pipe keeps widening. A rising, professionalising programmatic buy side is exactly what makes wiring up salon inventory worthwhile — you’re plugging into budgets that are growing and getting easier to access, as the programmatic share tracker and adoption curve show.
Believe the direction, not the headline number. Plan against the trend (more programmatic, more often), not VIOOH’s +44% — it’s stated intent. The transacted reality (real CPMs, private-deal-heavy mix) is the harder data to plan budgets on.
Specialist teams are good news for the long tail. As more buyers run dedicated programmatic-DOOH desks, niche and contextually-relevant inventory — beauty venues among them — is more likely to be discovered and bought, especially through curated private deals.

The unchanged caveat: bullish programmatic sentiment is not a beauty rate. None of these figures tell you what a salon screen clears at, because no beauty CPM is published. VIOOH’s report says the channel is accelerating; what a beauty venue earns still has to be modelled from the bottom up.