PROGRAMATIC ADVERTISING:
It uses automated, data-driven software to deliver digital screen ads in real time—similar to online ads. Instead of reserving a fixed time slot, advertisers bid for impressions based on factors like audience data, location, time of day, or weather. This allows campaigns to launch, pause, or adjust instantly for maximum relevance and efficiency.
This ensures the message is seen by a broader, more diverse audience. It also allows advertisers to optimize performance dynamically showing ads where and when traffic, demographics, or conditions like weather or events match their targeting criteria. This gives better exposure for the same spend.
Demographic data for OOH targeting comes from a mix of location tracking, mobile data, and public statistics. When people move through an area, their mobile devices (anonymously) share location signals that reveal general traits like age, income, and interests. This information, combined with traffic counts and census data, helps advertisers understand who passes by each billboard so they can place ads where their ideal audience is most likely to see them.
the TECHNOLOGy behind TODAY'S BILLBOARD ADVERTISING
Advertisers
These are the buyers of ad space; ie: a local restaurant chain or an ad agency.
Demand-Side Platforms:
They connect to multiple ad exchanges and allow buyers to bid on impressions in real time using data like location, audience demographics, or time of day.
Ad Exchanges:
They are marketplaces where ad inventory is bought and sold in real time between demand-side platforms and supply-side platforms.
Supply-Side Platforms (SSPs):
They are the publisher’s side of the equation — the tools that help media owners (like digital billboard networks or websites) manage and sell their available ad space programmatically.
Data Management Platforms (DMPs):
They collect and organize audience data — demographics, interests, behaviors — from various sources (web, mobile, customer relation management systems, etc.).
Publishers / Media Owners:
They are the owners of the digital billboards and screens.
Ad Verification & Measurement Partners:
These third-party companies verify that ads were shown as promised, in the right place, and to the right audience. They also provide performance metrics like viewability, location accuracy, and brand safety.
Trading Desks:
They are expert teams that use demand-side platforms and data management platforms on behalf of clients to optimize campaigns, manage data, and handle programmatic buying at scale.
How They All Work Together:
Advertiser or agency defines target and budget. The demand-side platform bids on available ad inventory through an Ad Exchange. The supply-side platform provides the available billboard or screen inventory from a Publisher. Data platforms feed audience info into the demand-side platform for targeting. Verification tools confirm impressions and performance after delivery.