In outdoor advertising, specialized platforms are used for both the supply and demand sides, known collectively as programmatic Digital Out Of Home, or pDOOH for short. Simply put, with digital signage software, it’s possible to purchase targeted advertising here and now, which is extremely convenient.

 

 

Differences between traditional site advertising and pDOOH

 

In the past, placing a banner ad on a website required writing or calling the resource owner. Usually, significant sums had to be paid to convey information about a product or service through a website. Additionally, ad blockers, bots, and inflated clicks or views complicated site advertising.

 

 

Now, websites find it difficult to compete with street screens, and here programmatic DOOH has become a major advantage for advertisers, providing more transparent audience access and verified reach.

 

 

For example, a men’s cosmetics brand that wanted to show ads to its target audience could negotiate with a sports internet platform. However, it would still have to pay for all impressions, even though part of the audience might consist of women or children for whom the product was irrelevant. When advertising on screens, such incidental costs are minimized, and pDOOH allows advertisers to reach only the necessary audience, gathered via Wi-Fi sensors installed on advertising structures and data from mobile operators. Audience segments are pre-formed into a database and act as a trigger for pDOOH during ad broadcasts.

 

 

Previously, the costs of placing digital screen ads were high, making testing or analysis nearly impossible, and interested clients were few. Negotiations took significant time, as arrangements had to be made with each operator or screen owner individually. Now, with digital signage software like programmatic DOOH, this process is much faster and less labor-intensive.

 

 

Over time, large networks began to emerge in global markets, allowing automated ad placement on screens and technologically integrating small outdoor advertising networks. They started collaborating and integrating with numerous platforms, allowing businesses to run high-reach ad campaigns. Today, programmatic DOOH has become part of internet technology, allowing advertisers to reach even more sites for communication with various audiences.

 

 

Targeted auctions have also emerged, focused exclusively on displays to the target audience. Today, the system requires minimal time, and pDOOH allows the best advertiser offers to win, displayed to the audience passing by the ad inventory.

4 steps in the auction mechanism for programmatic advertising placement in DOOH

 

The most common method is RTB (Real-Time Bidding). In this case, the advertiser sets their bid for displaying their ad. The highest bidder gains the opportunity to place their ad on the publisher’s screens. The main condition is that the audience must meet all targeting parameters, and the ad content must be relevant to them. The auction takes minimal time, usually going unnoticed as it occurs during the broadcast of the previous ad content. The auction stages include the following steps:

 

 

1. The target audience passes by a screen owned by the publisher (ad operator).

 

2. The supply-side platform receives confirmation of the audience approaching the screen and sends an ad request with data to the demand-side platform.

 

3. The buyer analyzes the received data and places a bid to display an ad to this specific audience group.

 

4. The seller selects the highest bid ad and displays it on the screen.

 

 

Auction participants

 

Two platforms are involved in the auctions. Here is a brief description of each:

 

 

DSP. This platform represents the advertiser’s interests and is responsible for bidding in the auction. Its primary goal is to display as much advertising as possible with minimal costs and high quality. It optimizes the process of purchasing the required audience, making targeting even more precise. By using software for video walls or digital signage players, it enables effective ad displays.

 

 

SSP. This platform represents the interests of ad space owners, such as websites or digital signage. It allows them to connect, aggregate all bids, structure them, and set placement prices. This simplifies interaction between parties and optimizes ad display through digital signage players.

 

 

DMP. A data management platform that facilitates targeting in ad placement. It gathers relevant user information and organizes it. This allows digital signage to target the precise audience needed.

 

 

The goal of the second platform is to sell advertising at the highest possible price to meet the interests of the ad space owner, while the first platform aims to buy it on terms that satisfy the advertiser.

How programmatic differs from SMM

 

As is known, SMM involves working with communities. The main focus is on content and user interaction. Targeting is important but secondary and is managed through ad accounts. In contrast, programmatic focuses solely on ad purchasing.

 

 

Campaign goals also differ. In SMM, the main goals are engagement, gaining followers, increasing reach, and obtaining reposts. Direct sales aren’t always the primary objective. In programmatic, the main goal is to drive traffic to the website and achieve conversions, which can be done through digital signage players and advanced display technologies.

 

 

How programmatic differs from contextual advertising online

 

On the surface, contextual advertising and programmatic look similar, as both display ads on different sites and use automated purchasing systems. The key difference is in keywords. Contextual advertising works with established demand expressed through keywords. For example, if someone searches for clothing, clothing ads will start appearing.

 

 

Programmatic acts more subtly, connecting at the stage of interest formation. For example, not when you’ve already decided to buy a specific winter shoe model, but when you’re simply interested in winter trends or wardrobe items. Based on your interests, gender, and income level, you’ll be shown shoes from different brands designed for multiple seasons.

 

Advantages of programmatic

 

Of course, like any form of advertising, programmatic software for DOOH has its pros and cons. Starting with the advantages:

 

– rapid ad purchasing;

  

– the ability to reach a wide variety of DOOH sites and networks;

  

– real-time targeting and other parameter adjustments;

  

– an open auction enables savings on placements, especially noticeable on premium sites;

  

– the advertiser sets the cost per view;

  

– payment is only for actual views;

  

– a large number of site-sellers offering various DOOH display solutions for advertising.

 

Potential drawbacks of programmatic

 

Alongside its benefits, programmatic has some notable drawbacks:

 

– the need to understand technical nuances and accurately assess traffic quality;

 

– a clear understanding of target audience needs is essential;

 

– results only become apparent after multiple rounds of testing;

 

– some services are inaccessible to small business owners or small agencies due to high minimum budgets for campaign launches.

 

 

Programmatic also involves certain risks. Before starting, it’s essential to be aware of these:

 

– there is always a risk of fraudulent clicking;

 

– sometimes, ads may appear on questionable websites where the target audience is present. To avoid this, careful targeting adjustments for display screens are necessary.

 

 

There may be cases where the advertiser’s statistics on the ad placement site do not match the statistics from the DSP platform. This could indicate dishonest behavior from the platform providing inaccurate data. It is advisable to work only with large, reliable platforms for Digital Out Of Home (DOOH) and video advertising.

 

 

How this advertising works on the internet and DOOH

 

Buyers and sellers create an ecosystem that regulates interactions between platforms and services. Here are the main participants in this process:

 

– Ad networks — advertising networks that allow banner placements and help count clicks and impressions;

 

– Ad exchange — a marketplace where impressions are shown and bids from advertisers are accepted;

 

– DSP — a system that helps organize auctions for advertisers;

 

– SSP — a platform where website owners offer ad space to interested buyers;

 

– Trading desk — an overlay for DSP platforms that provides a control panel for managing and adjusting ads.

 

 

Though this process may seem complex, it is fully automated and requires only minimal familiarity with tools for DOOH networks and DOOH Display Solutions.

 

 

Setting up such DOOH advertising

 

DOOH advertising setup requires specific technical knowledge. If you prefer not to delve into these details, consider the following alternatives:

 

– Fixed-price programmatic: ads are shown at a pre-set price, without an auction.

 

– Preferred deals: the advertiser uses a desired spot or pays a set price on the open market.

 

– Private marketplace: works similarly to an RTB auction, but participation is by invitation only, and the highest bid wins.

 

 

Access to the advertising system will be direct, with no intermediaries. There is no need to negotiate pricing for each site individually. With the right approach, you will achieve precise targeting and reach a broad audience in a short time.

Are cookies needed for pDOOH?

 

Programmatic advertising on outdoor screens works without cookies. Cookies are a method of identifying users to provide relevant content online. In that context, alternatives can be used:

 

 

– First-party data: information gathered by the brand directly from customers via the website or mobile app. This includes contacts, user behavior, and purchase history, which can be used to fine-tune targeting and create audience segments.

 

– Contextual targeting: using artificial intelligence to analyze the content of the site a user visits. Personal data is not considered, and ads are aligned with the site’s theme.

 

– Collaboration with data providers: this allows for better audience structuring and ensures that ads are shown specifically to users who need them.

 

– Fingerprinting: a unique digital fingerprint of each browser or device that helps capture information about the operating system and other important parameters.

 

 

Another tool is Privacy Sandbox and cohort-based targeting, which enables users to be grouped anonymously by interests. With such tools, centralized video management in DOOH advertising becomes more flexible and effective.

 

 

The future of programmatic

 

Advertising technologies continue to evolve, so it’s essential to keep up with trends. New platforms are regularly emerging, offering users exciting opportunities for placing both outdoor and online ads. Unfortunately, marketers don’t always manage to process the massive volumes of information, which requires greater control over ad placements. Programmatic helps unify offline ad carriers and online resources, makes spending more transparent, and automates many processes that are inconvenient to handle manually.

 

 

In 2024, $329 billion was allocated to programmatic advertising. Experts forecast this amount will rise to $724 billion by 2026. Clearly, the prospects for programmatic DOOH are impressive.

Advision — Content Management System for remote management and media planning of broadcast video and audio content. We help offline businesses and advertising companies automate workflows and implement a robust Digital Signage infrastructure using our proprietary software and hardware solutions.

 

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