What Outdoor Advertising Actually Covers

What is outdoor advertising? It’s just billboards on the highway, right? Not exactly — that's just scratching the surface. Out-of-home advertising, or OOH as we call it in the industry, is way bigger than you might think.

OOH is basically any paid advertising you see when you're out in public. And I mean anywhere. The bus that just drove by with McDonald's on the side? That's OOH. The digital screen at the gas station pump? Also OOH. Even that poster in the mall bathroom — yep, that counts too.

It's Everywhere You Go

Let's talk about where you actually see this stuff. Sure, there are traditional billboards along highways and city streets. But OOH shows up on buses, taxis, subway cars, and train stations. It’s everywhere — you see it in shopping malls, at airports waiting for a flight, supermarkets when picking up groceries… if you’re outside, you can probably see an outdoor ad.

The average American sees about 3,000 to 5,000 ads every day, and a good chunk of those happen outside their home. Transit advertising alone reaches millions of people weekly. Think about it — if you take the subway in New York, you're looking at ads for 45 to 47 minutes on average. That's a lot of eyeball time.

Traditional vs Digital: The Big Split

Here's where things get interesting. Traditional OOH is your classic static billboard or poster. It stays the same for weeks or months. But digital out-of-home, or DOOH, changes everything. These are the LED screens and digital displays that can switch messages throughout the day.

DOOH is growing fast because it's flexible. A coffee shop can run breakfast ads in the morning and switch to lunch specials by noon. Traditional billboards can't do that. About 76% of consumers actually prefer these digital formats because they're more engaging and relevant.