Nearly two-thirds of advertisers with a budget in excess of £40m ($62.5m) plan to spend more on programmatic media buying over the coming months, according to a new report.

As part of the International Media Image Survey (I-MIS), owned by M&M Globalparent company C Squared, AudienceScience asked advertisers of various sizes about their digital marketing plans for the coming year.

Of the “mega advertisers”, with a budget exceeding £40m, 64% said they plan to spend more on programmatic buying and real-time bidding. This compares to 53% of “small advertisers”, which an annual budget of less than £12m ($18.8m), and 41% of “medium advertisers” spending between £12m and £40m.

The report, entitled ‘The Shifting Digital Landscape’, also revealed that 43% of respondents plan to bring more responsibility for digital planning in-house.

Transparency continues to dominate advertisers’ thoughts, with 69% of those surveyed claiming that transparency levels in the media trading industry have either remained constant or declined.

“The complexities involved with media execution, lack of transparency, multiple intermediaries and inefficiencies in fees and margins are just a few issues that challenge an advertiser’s success in digital,” concluded the report.

“Despite the challenges, in order to increase their chances of success, advertisers are actively exploring procuring in-house programmatic expertise over the next 24 months.

“This will lead to greater scrutiny of current partners and provide opportunities for those ad tech companies that serve the interest of the advertiser to provide a streamlined, performance-driven, cost-efficient model that addresses their interests and, ultimately, those of the consumer.”