RTB has gone mainstream. It's official. Forrester says so. Impression-level trading is due to hit $823 million of US display spend - at least 7.9% of the total US display market. It's all very exciting stuff. This forecast is of course totally US-focused - but is there any trends in the report that suggest potential for similar growth in Europe? Here Tom Jenen explains why the conditions exist for accelerated growth in the European RTB market.

Forrester talks about 100% plus growth in RTB in the US this year – do the same conditions for growth exist in Europe?

TJ: Conditions are different but if anything, the case for a rapid expansion in RTB in Europe is more robust. Much of the technical evaluation for the global advertising agencies and technology companies has been done in the US and already underway in the UK, Germany and elsewhere in Europe. Demand should come online faster with a quicker route to market than it did in the early days in the US.

Which markets would you expect to see most growth this year, how much do you estimate and where will this growth come from?

TJ: Admeld has seen the strongest RTB growth in countries with a rich variety of media outlets such as the UK, Germany and some smaller countries such as the Netherlands.

What is Admeld’s estimate of the total value of the European RTB ad revenue in 2010 and for 2011 as a whole?

TJ: Over the past six months, Admeld has seen a 4x RTB spend increase in the UK and a 12x RTB spend increase in Germany on our platform. Overall, we anticipate a 500% increase in spend across Europe in 2011.

Why is Europe behind the US at this stage of the development of RTB?

TJ: Europe is further behind in RTB development because successful RTB requires both buyers and sellers to be connected at scale (as they are now in the US). The technologies have been developed in the US and are just now making their way across Europe.

What will be the landmarks in the development of RTB in Europe in 2011?
TJ: Demand has always driven the growth of RTB, so the benchmarks should be around spend. A landmark development would be for Europe to hit $50-$100m in RTB media spend this year (actual spend not ratecard).