This week, we celebrated a major milestone at Readpeak: Our 10th anniversary! To mark the occasion, we hosted the first-ever Programmatic Native Summit in Helsinki. The event brought together over 200 experts from across Europe. Attendees from Germany, the UK, Switzerland, and beyond joined us. They came to dive into the latest developments in programmatic native advertising within the industry.
Our CEO, Tomas Forsbäck, summed up the spirit of the event:
“The past decade has been all about growth and innovation. This summit wasn’t just a celebration—it was about creating a space where industry leaders could come together to exchange ideas, build new partnerships, and share knowledge. We believe this will drive even more innovation in the field.”
Over the years, Readpeak has evolved from its humble beginnings in 2014 to become the leading programmatic native platform in Northern Europe. Our journey took off with the launch of our self-service platform in 2017. This was followed by a game-changing update in 2019 when we introduced programmatic bidding. Since then, with programmatic native advertising continuing to grow, our AI-driven tools have shaped campaign optimization and ad creation since 2023. This development enabled expansion beyond the Nordics into markets like the UK, Germany, and Switzerland.
At the summit, we brought together industry leaders to dive into the latest trends, showcase case studies, and discuss the future of native advertising. Inspiring talks and panel discussions offered valuable insights. Speakers like Steffen Holm (OMD Denmark), Gesa Lischka (neuromarketing expert and founder of Kochstrasse), and Jörg Vogelsang (BCN Brand Community Network) also shared their expertise on where programmatic native advertising is heading next.
We also revealed findings from a new survey on programmatic native advertising in the Nordics. The results showed that 80.2% of companies are already using native ads. Nearly 40% are planning to increase their investment next year. Clearly, the adoption of programmatic native advertising is gaining traction in the region, and we’re excited to continue leading the way.
The event wrapped up with a lively networking dinner, offering a great chance to connect and discuss future projects. Overall, the success of the Programmatic Native Summit speaks to the growing impact of programmatic native advertising in Europe.