How AI Innovation Is Changing The Picture For Out-Of-Home Advertising

""If a picture paints a thousand words then why can't I paint you?" - David Gates/Bread I don't know if humans created paintings before they created language, but it's safe to say that telling stories through images is one of our oldest forms of communication. Fast forward to today and the leaders of the out-of-home advertising industry - "it's not just billboards anymore" - are working to modernize their business with the latest developments in artificial intelligence and advertising technology. How are they doing? To answer that I spent some time with a group of folks at the vanguard of the business."

"The Digital Place-based Advertising Association (DPAA) is gathering in New York this week and it's a worthwhile moment to look at what is happening in this corner of the media advertising world. The overall size of the outdoor ad market (also called out-of home or OOH) is $9-10 billion in the U.S. This isn't insubstantial but still dwarfed by linear (broadcast and cable) TV, which still brings in $65 billion of annual revenues, and digital platforms such as YouTube, which gained more than $10 billion in ad revenue in the last quarter alone. I won't even bother with comparisons to the search business."

""Heading into our annual Summit I'm quite excited about the conversations the industry is having about AI, and the role our members are taking in aggressively leading the industry towards use and better optimization of AI." The introduction and wider adoption of AI in the out-of-home market is aimed at enhancing the full journey of buying and selling outdoor advertising: from finding and targeting the right audiences to planning campaigns to delivering and refining the right content, while facilitating changes as needed all along the way."

Out-of-home (OOH) advertising in the U.S. is a $9-10 billion market that remains smaller than linear TV and major digital platforms. Digital-driven growth and adoption of ad technology are reshaping the industry beyond static billboards. Industry stakeholders, including the DPAA, are actively pushing AI integration. AI applications span the full buying and selling lifecycle: audience discovery and targeting, campaign planning, content delivery, creative refinement, and real-time adjustments. The industry seeks to leverage AI for better optimization and to compete more effectively with larger media channels.

Read at Forbes