Out-of-home was never the underdog; it was just waiting for technology to catch up. Jason Adamski, director of the IAB Media Center, explores how data, measurement and the power of place are driving a new era of growth.
Photo by Christopher Luther on Unsplash
For a while, digital advertising’s attention drifted elsewhere: to mobile, to social, to streaming. Meanwhile, out-of-home (OOH) quietly evolved into something far more dynamic. What used to be a one-way medium defined by static billboards is now one of the most data-driven, context-aware and measurable parts of the media mix.
This isn’t nostalgia. It’s reinvention at scale.
Advertisement
Digital out-of-home (DOOH) is no longer a single format; it’s a full ecosystem of connected screens across transit hubs, retail environments, office buildings, gyms and even EV charging stations. These are not ‘signs’ – they’re digital endpoints that can respond to time, weather, audience movement and proximity.
That flexibility is what’s making DOOH one of the most resilient and fastest-growing media channels. According to industry estimates, the US market has reached roughly $3bn, with programmatic DOOH growing more than 30% year-over-year.
The driver of that growth isn’t just better screens, it’s better signals.
For years, measurement was DOOH’s Achilles’ heel. Every network, operator and data provider used different methods for counting impressions and defining audiences. That made it difficult to compare DOOH with other channels, such as CTV or social video.
That’s changing fast. The industry, led by the IAB’s 2025 DOOH Measurement Guide and the Media Rating Council’s (MRC) Out-of-Home Measurement Standards – Phase 2, has now established common ground for defining impressions, viewability and presence.
The new frameworks go far beyond traffic counts. They include real-world exposure zones, dwell time, audience presence and ‘likelihood to see’ (LTS) models that align DOOH with digital standards. Combined with mobile location data, wifi signals and sensor-based detection, these systems provide proof of performance that’s both transparent and privacy-compliant.
That shift, from estimated exposure to verified attention, is what gives DOOH credibility in omnichannel planning.
Screens in public spaces have always offered something digital banners can’t: physical context. Whether you’re standing at a crosswalk, refueling your car or waiting for a train, DOOH reaches people when they’re looking up, not down. And thanks to location intelligence, it can now do so with precision and purpose. So what makes DOOH unique isn’t just the technology, it’s where it lives.
Retailers and brands are connecting DOOH to first-party data, transforming a historically ‘broadcast’ medium into one capable of closed-loop measurement. The line between DOOH and retail media is now blurred; the difference lies less in the screen and more in how the data behind it is activated.
That’s why an ad at a grocery checkout or gas pump might be classified as DOOH one day and retail media the next; the context and data strategy define the channel, not the hardware.
Transparency is the other side of DOOH’s evolution. Every impression can now be validated, audited and accredited. Measurement providers, such as Geopath, Place Exchange and Broadsign, are developing systems that adhere to MRC standards and IAB privacy guidelines.
The result is that DOOH can now stand alongside other digital channels in dashboards and MMM models, connecting exposures to tangible outcomes like store visits or sales lift.
This is where programmatic DOOH has been a game-changer. Automation enables advertisers to plan, buy and measure DOOH in the same way they manage other digital campaigns, with the added benefit that those impressions occur in the real world.
Advertisement
What’s happening in DOOH isn’t about nostalgia or spectacle. It’s about a medium finding its role in an increasingly complex advertising landscape. As marketers push for measurable, privacy-safe and contextually relevant ways to reach people, DOOH stands out for doing something simple but powerful: connecting digital intelligence with real-world presence.
The industry’s challenge now isn’t proving that DOOH works; it’s integrating it smarter. As standards mature and data becomes more interoperable, DOOH will sit alongside mobile, social and CTV, not as an add-on but as a core part of the omnichannel mix.
The next stage of growth won’t come from being everywhere; it’ll come from being in the right place, at the right time, with the right accountability.
Advertisement