Google's Display & Video 360 adds digital OOH component

Google is making digital out-of-home ads available to all Display & Video 360 users to reach people with the efficiency of programmatic technology. This includes screens in public places such as stadiums, airports, bus stops, shopping centers, elevators, taxis and more.

According to a blog post on Google’s Display & Video 360 marketing platform released on 25 August, Google said that brands can combine the emotional power and captivating formats of traditional out-of-home advertising with the efficiency of other digital channels, with digital out-of-home ads in Display & Video 360. “With a single plan, they can reach people on screens of all shapes and sizes. And, it can be done rapidly and efficiently. Marketers can activate, pause, and optimise digital out-of-home campaigns in near real time. They can tackle everything from strategy and activation to reporting and optimisation all in one place,” the blog post read.

While digital out-of-home ads placed through Display & Video 360 are not personalised, and Google does not use individual identifiers or any user location data; advertisers can reach people based on contextual information of the screen location, resonating a traditional out-of-home ad, but with flexibility and ease of programmatic.

“For example, a fast-food spot can quickly advertise on a billboard in a bustling business district during the lunch hour for office workers to see. Later that day, the same billboard can promote an upcoming performance at a nearby concert venue,” said the post.

The blog post also added that Display & Video 360 has partnered with exchanges such as Hivestack, Magnite, PlaceExchange, Ströer SSP, VIOOH and Vistar Media, giving access to large media owners around the world like ClearChannel, Intersection, JCDecaux, Lamar and Ströer. All of this inventory can be secured via programmatic deals.

When measuring ad impact, Google said that publishers provide Display & Video 360 with an impression multiplier, which estimates the number of people who may have seen an ad, “This estimate, which isn’t based on an individual’s data, helps advertisers properly measure the impact of their digital out-of-home campaigns. Display & Video 360 vets all publishers to ensure they follow measurement methodologies defined by industry-recognised vendors like Geopath. Publishers that self-measure are not supported.”

Google also took ASOS as example as the retailer used Display & Video 360 to quickly select digital billboards with the map UI and arrange relevant programmatic guaranteed deals with leading publishers such as Intersection in the U.S. and JCDecaux in the U.K.

“This streamlined approach allowed the brand to lean on a central platform to buy, implement and measure their campaign. As a result, the team fast tracked the process of booking hundreds of digital billboards, generating 22 million viewed impressions across the two countries,” the post added.

OOH platforms and billboards have long been lauded as the gentle giants of advertising. However, OOH billboards were also hit with rapid digitalisation in the 2000s. This is when large format digital OOH (DOOH) screens started making an appearance. Not long after, an entrepreneur by the name of Gerard Bucas founded Scala, the world’s very first web-based CMS for digital signage, allowing schedulers to create loop-based playlists from their desk and push content to screens without ever having to physically visit them. 

With the advancement and rise of data and automation, programmatic advertising was born along with programmatic DOOH technology which is revolutionising the OOH medium. A 2021 study by VIOOH found that 76% of all Hong Kong media executives either agree or strongly agree that programmatic OOH is a clear part of their programmatic and digital strategy, with a greater number (82%) agreeing programmatic OOH provides excellent value for money. Programmatic OOH was also the top channel, with social media (80%), digital video (80%) and digital audio (70%) following closely behind.

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