DOOH & pDOOH Acronyms & terms
A look at the programmatic and digital buying acronyms, terms, and vocabulary, including nuances related to out of home. Please note that these definitions are specific to out of home media (ooh/dooh/pdooh) and may vary from the same term used in the omnichannel programmatic ecosystem which is today more focused on web, mobile and social ad placement.
Acronyms & Terms
Ad Call: A call for an ad to fill an empty spot on a digital out of home advertising screen. The CMS through an API or Direct Connection or the Ad Server sends a request to one or more ad-tech platforms (typically an ad server or ad exchange) including the instructions required for the ad. If an ad exists that meets the instruction criteria, it will be pushed to the open ad spot.
Ad Exchange: A technology platform that facilitates the media transaction (buying and selling) of media ad inventory from multiple out of home media operators (publishers). Prices for the inventory are on a CPM (cost per thousand) basis, and buyers secure the inventory through real-time bidding (RTB). This is a technology-driven approach as opposed to the historical approach of negotiating price with the media operator (publisher) on media inventory. It is a much more efficient way to transact.
Ad Loop: Many DOOH media operators (publishers) run their networks on a CMS or Content Management System. The CMS then programs the advertising and content on each of the digital screens. It is still very prevalent to have an ad loop which is essentially a period of time in which a set of given ads and content plays consecutively before repeating. An example might be a 3-minute ad loop where 8 15-second ads would play along with 1-minute of content and once that ad loop finished, it would just repeat hence being called a “loop”. The introduction of real time bidding (RTB), and selling ad spots based on impressions is beginning to challenge the thought of an ad loop as many advertisers are not looking for a specific ad schedule but instead opting to buy an audience and number of impressions. Most modern CMS’s have evolved to enable non-linear advertising serving.
Ad Network: A technology platform that brokers out of home ad inventory between out of home media networks or operators (publishers) and advertisers or agencies. An ad network aggregates ad supply from media operators (publishers) and matches it with demand from advertisers and agencies.
Ad Recall: The number or percentage of consumers who Remember an advertisement within a certain time of being exposed to the ad.
Ad Server: A web-based server or engine that automates the delivery of advertisements to available media inventory. Ad Servers specifically enable advertisers and publishers to optimize, manage and distribute ads across available inventory.
Ad Slot (Spot): Space on an advertising screen where a single ad runs. In the old days this would always mean a “spot or slot” in the ad loop and so an ad Spot would be a single ad play once per loop. As networks move from selling spots in a loop to selling impressions, the definition is changing to be a single ad play (regardless of the amount of time eg: 10-seconds, 15-seconds, 30-seconds, 60-seconds).
Ad Slot (Spot) Length: The duration of time representing the ad play or in many cases the amount of time available for an ad play. This has a slightly different meaning for the publisher vs. the advertiser. For the publisher, it is the amount of time they a lot on their network for an ad which would have alternate ads or content playing on either side of that time slot. For an advertiser, it is the length of their ad. An example would be an advertiser who has a 30-second ad or an ad network that has 15-seconds between the prior ad and the next ad in which it hopes to sell. The publisher spot length available must match the advertiser spot length in order for the advertiser to run on the publisher’s network.
Ad Stack: The Ad Stack is the series of companies or technologies that work together to move the ad from the advertiser to the target consumer. The Ad Stack could be any or all of the CMS, SSP, Ad Server, Data, DSP, Attribution, or any number of other components that work together to deliver the ad to the right target audience. Not to be confused with “Ad Stacking” which is another term that does not really apply in the DOOH world, but in the digital world refers to ads that may be stacked on top of each other where the consumer only sees the top ad, but the publisher gets paid for ads that are not seen but run behind the top ad. This is a form of fraud that again has not been an issue with DOOH.
Ad Unit: The Ad specs including dimensions and formatting (height x width x resolution x format).
AdTech: Short for Advertising Technology, this broad term encompasses the tools and software available to the ad industry, that enable advertisers to deliver and measure their digital ad campaigns.
Advertiser: A brand, company or person that advertises a product, service, or event.
Algorithm: A series of mathematical instructions or calculations that direct a specific outcome.
Aspect Ratio: The size dimensions of a digital screen or the area of the digital screen in which the ad plays. It is typically expressed as the ratio of the horizontal width to the vertical height of the display or ad area of the screen. Typical aspect ratios for DOOH smaller format screens are that of TV’s and include a standard format 4x3 (or 3x4) and a wide screen format 16x9 (or 9x16), billboards, bulletins and other media has other aspect ratios. One challenge in the out of home world is the number of different format screens and lack of standardization across the industry. Every different aspect ratio and size requires different creative specs.
Auction: This is not Christy’s, and we are not auctioning fine wine or art, but auctions in the programmatic out of home world operate in a similar manner. In the programmatic digital out of home world, some inventory is put up for auction and the highest bidder for that inventory typically wins. In an auction, the seller of the inventory which is the media operator or publisher has control by establishing a floor price, but they also have upside because if more than one advertiser wants that spot, they will bid on it and many times depending on the rules established the highest price wins. The bidders however do not see the other bidders and so it is a blind bid and there is no chance to bid higher if another advertiser places an initial bid higher than yours, so this encourages advertisers to bid what they are willing to pay as opposed to just the floor price.
Audience: Typically, the people who are either targeted by advertisers or agencies or who are exposed to an ad by the media operator. In this case it is used generically but see “Target Audience” for more detail around targeting and defining specific audiences.
Audience composition: A series of factors that define the actual audience either targeted or exposed to an ad. The factors may include demographic, socioeconomic, geographic and/or behavioral. Often each segment is defined as a percentage of the total audience.
Audience impression: A measurement that defines the total number of people exposed to an ad and how often they were exposed. In OOH media, “exposed” refers to people with either an opportunity to see the ad, or a likelihood to see the ad. Different measurement methodology uses different definitions of “exposed”. For example if the definition of impression is “likelihood to see” then the measurement will be the total number of people with a likelihood to see x the average number of times they have that opportunity. 100,000 people who have an average of likelihood to see of 1.5x would be an impression count of 100,000 x 1.5 = 150,000 impressions.
Audience reach measurement: In OOH media, Audience reach is the count of the total number of unique people reached with a given campaign regardless of how many times each person sees the ad. It is one of the components of the Impressions calculation where reach (unique viewers) x frequency (average number of times they see the ad) = impressions. In other media, reach may be machine-based as opposed to people-based and in those mediums, reach is a count of unique cookies, devices, or browsers where the ad plays regardless of how many times it may play on that machine.
Audience reach percentage: Typically, the percentage of the population that is reached by a given campaign, or if not, a national campaign it is the percentage of an addressable target audience reached by a given campaign.
Audio: Refers to the sound capabilities of a digital screen or the advertising creative running on that screen. Not all digital out of home advertising screens can play sound.
Awareness: A measure of consumer or audience familiarity with a brand, business, or product.
Bidder: The advertiser or agency placing a bid to buy ad space across the programmatic ecosystem.
Bid Request: A bid request is sent by an SSP, Ad Network or Ad Exchange for available inventory looking to be filled with programmatic ads. It typically contains information about the available digital out of home screen. This information may include a unique identifier, location, audience information, the impression multiplier, and creative specs. It then requests an ad so that it can be displayed on the ad screen.
Bid Response: The DSP sends a response inside a RTB system to address the bid request that was sent by SSP, Ad Network or Ad Exchange. The bid request normally comprises information about the amount of bid, the creative ID, and the ID of the participant that made a bid on the auction.
Brand Health/Brand Equity: A measure that indicates the way a brand is viewed or perceived by an audience.
Brand Lift: A specific advertising campaign measurement that measures the effectiveness in driving a positive shift and/or increase in customer awareness and brand perception.
Content management system (CMS): An application used to manage and schedule digital content. The DOOH industry uses digital signage players running a content management software (CMS) to manage and schedule advertising and content on their digital screen network.
Conversion window: Used in attribution measurement, this is typically the number of days a vendor expects an ad campaign to generate a transaction. The amount of time may vary by brand or type of conversion and is typically the timeframe looked at to determine if a campaign resulted in a conversion.
Cost per lift store visit: The advertising price per exposed user visiting a store that can be attributed to the associated advertising campaign. This is typically determined by taking ad spend divided by the increase or lift in store visits.
Cost per thousand (CPM): The cost (price) to buy 1,000 ad impressions on displays in a given market. Example: A $10 CPM costs the advertiser $10.00 for 1000 impressions (or views) of that ad. It is important to remember that 1000 views could be 1000 different people seeing the ad once, 1 person seeing the ad 1000 times, or most likely something in-between.
Cover (coverage): The proportion of a target group who have one or more ad exposures in an outdoor campaign (IMPACT), in a defined period. Expressed as a percentage.
Cross-Device Targeting: Cross-device targeting is using data to deliver campaigns to consumers across multiple devices that they may be engaged with. As an example, delivering an ad to their laptop and their mobile phone. In the out of home media world, it is possible to target advertising to devices plus digital out of home signage that consumer group or profile is likely to come in contact with.
Coverage: The geographic area covered by the advertising networks used in a specific campaign.
Currency: In a digital world, Currency refers to the standard by which the medium can be planned, traded, evaluated, and reported. In the out of home world, this standard is measurement, and companies like GeoPath (US), COMMB (CA), Move (ANZ), and Reach (UK) are examples of measurement bodies supported by the industry that have created the measurement currency for their market. Place Exchange, ComScore and others have also created the methodology and processes for measuring the different forms of out of home media and assigning an impressions measurement. Some measurement is more focused on video networks and creating a currency that enables media buyers to buy those video networks on the same level as TV, CTV and other video buys.
Data Management Platform (DMP): A platform to managed first, second and third-party data that is collected. A DMP is used by marketers to aggregate data typically from multiple sources, gather insights about that data, and use the data and insights to activate campaigns and drive desired outcomes. DMP’s can also be used to collect data over time and build detailed customer profiles.
Demand Side Platform (DSP): A technology platform that enables marketers (Agencies and Brands) centralized and automated media buying from multiple supply side partners, including ad exchanges, ad networks and sell side platforms. These DSP’s allow advertisers and agencies to buy impressions across a variety of media operators and target consumers based on data such as location or consumer behavior. Media operators (Publishers) make ad impressions available directly and through marketplaces called ad exchanges and supply-side platforms (SSP’s). The DSP’s can use available data to decide which impressions are the most valuable for an advertiser to buy based on audience targeting data.
Demo targeting: Targeting audiences by demographic attributes such as age, gender, household income, presence of children.
Digital: Refers to advertising or content on a digital screen, including static, moving, and full-motion ads and content with and without sound.
Dwell time: The length of time an individual is in a Screen Exposure Zone which is a location from which the screen is visible and, if appropriate, audible. (Source: MRC Digital Place-Based Audience Measurement Standards Version 1)
Dynamic Content: The process of creating and enabling responsive and editable creative messaging to deliver contextually relevant messages driven by the smart use of data across DOOH.
Effective frequency: Refers to the number of exposures necessary to make an impact and achieve memorable communication goals.
Environment: Shorthand for the specific type of location where advertising screens are placed. For example, Transit (or Rail) indicates displays in rail stations and on trains or busses, and RETAIL includes screens inside shopping or retail centers and pedestrian areas, among others.
Exposure: Presence in the defined Screen Exposure Zone while content is deemed to be viewable, though this does not require that the content be viewed or listened to. Exposure is also often referred to as Opportunity-to-See. (Source: MRC Digital Place-Based Audience Measurement Standards March 15, 2017, Version 1 Final)
Face: A face is often used in two different ways, and it is important to clarify as the word is often mis-used. In media, a face is typically a single ad spot where a static ad is a single face, a digital screen running an 8-ad loop would have 8 faces. As digital screens become more dynamic, the term ad face will have less meaning.
Favorability: A measure of effectiveness of an advertising campaign’s ability to drive intended outcomes. More favorable campaigns drive a higher consumer perception of the brand being advertised.
Fieldwork: In media research, this refers to activity out in the field or on the ground to capture data through interviews, surveys, or other engagement with consumers in real life.
First-Party Data: Data collected directly from app activity, mobile, purchase activity in store and online, social media, subscriptions, and website traffic. First party data is very valuable as it tells a brand who it’s visitors or customers are, what they are doing and why.
Foot traffic attribution: Physical in-store or location visits that are driven by or attributed to an advertising campaign.
Frame: The physical housing or structure that holds an advertising display no matter if the display is a static image, scrolling device, or digital screen.
Frequency: The number of times in which the consumer (audience) is exposed to content, advertising, or a specific ad, in a defined time period. Frequency is the average number of exposures per consumer when used in conjunction with total reach estimates.
Frequency capping: A limit/cap on how many times a specific user is shown a particular advertisement within a given time. Frequency capping helps advertisers insure their purchased impressions reach a targeted number of unique consumers.
Full screen: An ad unit which is displayed across the entire screen or all pixels as the only visible element on the screen. A full screen ad insures no other ads or content are running at the same time in proximity to an advertisers ad.
Geographic targeting: Targeting audiences defined by their location in the real-world. Location attributes can vary from granular attributes such as mobile/GPS-enabled latitude/longitude data to broader attributes such as DMA or state/province. In technical specifications, targets may simply be referred to as “geo”, “user”, “audience” without spelling out the full term.
Gross rating point (GRP): A term used to measure the size of an audience reached by a specific media vehicle or schedule. In DOOH, a GRP is defined as the total number of impressions delivered, expressed as a percentage of a market population. One rating point represents impressions equal to 1% of the market population. In calculating GRPs, total impressions are first reduced to the in-market impressions of individuals who live in the defined market and are part of that market’s population base. A frequently referenced term along with GRPs is Target Rating Points (TRPs), which is calculated by the sum of the ratings generated by a segment - often referred to as Target Audience GRPs or more simply TRPs.
Header Bidding: An advanced method of programmatic trading that allows publishers to offer their inventory to multiple SSPs using a unified auction framework. With Header Bidding, publishers can put ad calls out to multiple demand sources simultaneously and entertain multiple bids for available inventory with the goal of accepting the highest price. Another definition from publift.com is: Header bidding means that all the demand sources simultaneously participate in the auction, and publishers can control which sources participate in the process.
Impression: In DOOH, a measurement of the number of times an individual consumer views the advertisement.
Impression multiplier: The multiplier is a DOOH specific metric which informs the buyer exactly how many impressions are delivered in a single ad play. Each impression equates to a single view by a single viewer.
Lift: The Percent difference in visitation rates between exposed audience and unexposed audience. Also known as “incremental lift”.
Likelihood to See: A stricter measurement methodology in OOH media. It is a portion of the “opportunity to see” audience that is likely to see an ad. This is the measure used currently by GeoPath. Other measurement bodies use Opportunity to See or Reasonable Opportunity to See.
Look-alike targeting: Targeting audiences that have some number of attributes in common with an audience of interest. For example, an advertiser may target “look-alikes” of past purchasers, i.e. people who share demographic or behavioral characteristics of past purchasers, but have not themselves made a purchase.
Maximum visibility distance: Derived from eye-tracking studies or other methodology, a defined distance from which the ad can be seen.
Media unit: A unit defined by a DOOH network that describes the physical space on which a DOOH ad unit will play. Most often for digital place-based networks, a media unit is a single screen, however in locations where multiple screens are combined to portray content that is larger than one screen, the entirety of that group of screens may be referred to as a single media unit.
Mediation: Mediation in programmatic digital out of home, allows media operators to create a unified auction for available inventory across all of their supply-side platform (SSP) partners. This enables them to offer individual ad spots to multiple buyers to encourage bidding and maximize their revenue opportunity.
Open Exchange: A way to buy/sell programmatic advertising. It is the least restrictive type of ad auction, with a media owner/publisher generally allowing any and all buyers to participate in accessing the ad inventory through this method. Usually, there is no direct relationship with the buyer. Media owners may choose to use blocklists and floor pricing to prevent certain advertisers from gaining access. On the advertiser side, they are often unaware of what media owner network they are buying on. DSPs usually present a list of exchanges/SSPs to the buyer that they automatically opt into. Buyers may not know or care that they are buying a specific network’s inventory. As a result of this, publishers can participate in the open auction on a blind basis.
Open RTB: The IAB standard for RTB supported by Hivestack and now used by most DSPs.
Opportunity to see (OTS): A measurement methodology in out of home media in which the consumer is in the area of the ad and reasonably has an opportunity to see the ad.
Orientation: This is one of the measures in defining the ad specs for a screen and is typically “landscape” which is a horizontal ad or “Portrait” which is a vertical ad. Combined with the ad size in pixels and other specs, it is used to define how to produce an ad that will run properly on a screen since digital screens are not all standard sizes or formats.
Play: A DOOH ad playing one time on one screen. Number of plays is one of many factors used to calculate reach and frequency.
Playback format: The final format that a DOOH Network requires for an ad unit to be played across the network. Networks are always required to disclose the playback format.
Primary ad unit: This typically Refers to the largest part of a split screen where the dominant ad plays. The primary ad unit may be full screen or a large dominant area of a split screen. In contrast some screens may run a full screen ad but also a banner ad when content plays. In this case the full screen is the primary ad unit and the banner would be a secondary ad unit.
Private Marketplace (PMP): One of three different deal types in a programmatic workflow. A PMP is a private invitation-only marketplace with an advertiser or agency which grants access to specific digital inventory that may not be available to others and guarantees a price or CPM for that media. Although inventory access and fixed pricing are likely part of the PMP, there are no guarantees on either the buy or sell side. This means the advertiser or agency can turn this on or off as they see fit and the media network can take higher priced or direct deals and not make inventory available for a PMP.
Programmatic: The use of software to automate the buying and selling of digital media. It typically includes the incorporation of data enabling buying audiences and impressions that are linked to a particular ad unit.
Programmatic Guaranteed: An automated modern approach to direct ad buying that delivers more value to both advertisers and media operators (publishers) by allowing them to execute direct buys and incorporate data more easily. It eliminates many of the existing manual processes dealing with inventory via a spreadsheet and manual booking of ads. Unfortunately, the OOH industry has yet to really embrace Programmatic Guaranteed as the ad-tech platforms need to introduce a robust product with a financial model that does not hinder the acceptance of moving to a programmatic direct model for media operators (publishers).
Proof of play (POP): The logging of ad play data on specific media owner players/networks, each time an ad or piece of content is played. A player logs an occurrence, stores it and is later provided to advertisers for analysis and audit verification. In the out of home media world, POP also stands for proof of performance and proof of posting. It is sometimes associated with a photo or other physical proof that an ad was posted or played on a screen.
Psychographic targeting: Targeting audiences defined by personality, interests, attitudes or mindsets (e.g. financial optimists, environmentally-conscious consumers). Often driven from offline surveys and stated preferences.
Publisher: In the digital world, the publisher is the media owner, operator, or network.
Purchase intent: Purchase intent is a measure of the probability that a consumer will purchase a service or product.
Reach: (Sometimes referred to as “Ad Exposure Reach): The number of unique people who see the ad or have an opportunity to see the ad based on defined standards of proximity and viewability.
Reach and frequency: The estimated number of people that see an advertising campaign, and the average number of times they see it, in a defined period.
Reaction: The consumer response to advertising - brand or promotion.
Real Time Bidding (RTB): A way of transacting media that allows an individual ad impression to be put up for bid in real time. This is done through a programmatic auction, and is similar to how financial markets operate. RTB allows for addressable advertising; the ability to serve ads to consumers directly based on their demographic, psychographic, or behavioral attributes. Digital out of home media has some limitations with respect to “real-time” but is getting closer to being able to deliver this.
Recall: In market research, recall refers to the recollection of the advertising a consumer or group of consumers has seen.
Remnant Inventory: Typically advertising inventory, space or ad spots that are unlikely to be sold.
Resonance: The degree to which advertising messaging influences the consumer’s perspective and/or drives purchase decisions or the desired brand impact.
Respondent: A participant in a research study
Retargeting: Targeting specific audiences who you know have previously been exposed to or have shown interest in the advertisers’ products or services. Types of retargeting might include targeting consumers who had an opportunity to see a retailer ad when they are in proximity to the retailer, or consumers who had an opportunity to see an auto ad when in proximity to that auto dealer. There are retargeting companies who for instance have technology to identify mobile devices that were in proximity to out of home ads and then retarget that audience via mobile advertising when in proximity to the advertiser location.
Screen: A digital display or medium that delivers digital advertising and content that might include static, video and/or audio.
Seat ID: Each connection between an SSP and a DSP is typically assigned a unique value or Seat ID. This unique identifier is used to offer inventory to specific buyers on a DSP platform, and often with unique or specific parameters around inventory, price and more. The Seat ID helps the SSP understand who is buying the inventory.
Second-Party Data: First-party data from someone else, typically exchanged through agreements or relationships between two or more companies (ex. partners, vendors, or suppliers) who share data.
Segmentation: Sub-groups of consumers or businesses known as segments. You might separate your target audience based on common demographic, psychographic, geographic, or behavioral attributes. Segmentation is often used to create target audiences (comprised of one or more segments) or to customize a promotion or message for specific sub-segments of your target audience.
Supply Side Platform (SSP): Also referred to as a Sell Side Platform, an SSP is an advertising technology (ad-tech) platform that is a necessary part of the programmatic digital out of home ecosystem which coordinates and manages the supply and distribution of advertising inventory, typically from multiple media operators (publishers). Think of an SSP as a data warehouse of available supply (ad panels) that connects to the demand side so advertisers and agencies can see what inventory is available for their campaign. SSP’s are a necessary part of the programmatic real-time bidding (RTB) process in that they enable media operators (publishers) to connect their inventory to multiple ad exchanges and demand-side-platforms (DSP’s). By making their inventory available to as many buyers as possible, they can maximize revenue by enabling multiple advertisers to compete for their available inventory.
Served impression: A single impression that was served properly by the ad screen. In DOOH, all ads (when served) are typically fully viewable for the entirety of the play. The exception to this might be if they are mis-programmed and are cut short. DOOH does not have the same challenges as online for instance in which an ad may be served but it is not viewable so it is not counted as a served impression as it had no chance of delivering an impression.
Served plays: The number of times an ad creative has started to play. It is not required that the ad play in full to be counted as a “served play”. Essentially, it was served to the screen but is not a measure of accuracy or ad performance.
Share of time: In DOOH media, share of time is typically referring to either the share of ad time and for example a 15-second ad might be one of 8 ads played in a loop and it therefore has a 12.5% share of time. Or it may be share of total screen time and for example it is possible that a network might run 2 minutes of ads plus 2 minutes of content and so that same 15-second ad now runs every 4-minutes and therefore has a share of time equal to 6.25%. As the DOOH world and technology evolve, ad loops are going away and so people are less likely to buy a share of time and more likely to buy a certain number of impressions. At some stage “Share of Impressions” may become a more standard metric in the DOOH world.
Spot length: From the advertiser perspective, it is the length of time for video ad creative or in which they want a static ad to remain on the screen. From the DOOH media operator (publisher) perspective it is the duration of time the screen is segmented to run a particular ad spot. The majority of time these two match, meaning an advertiser might supply a video ad spot that is 15-seconds in length and the media operator has programmed their content management system to devote 15-seconds to play the ad. It is rare, but if these two do not match an advertiser’s spot could be cut short or there could be a short period following the ad in which the screen is not playing anything.
Store conversion rate: This is the percentage of exposed consumers who visited the store per impression served. If a campaign serves 1000 impressions and that results in 50 people visiting the store, the rate is calculated as 50 / 1000 = 0.05 or 5%.
Store visits: Typically, the total number of consumers walking into a store that can be attributed to a particular ad campaign. Often an ad drives awareness or promotes an offer to visit a store to buy specific products, and it is important to the advertiser looking to track results, that they can attribute the store visits to a particular campaign or offer.
Street furniture: Advertising displays, that are typically located in public areas where pedestrians and/or vehicular traffic might have an opportunity to see. According to the Out of Home Advertising Association of America (OAAA): “Street furniture displays include, but are not limited to: transit shelters, newsstands/news racks, kiosks, shopping mall panels, convenience store panels and in-store signage.” Other definitions limit Street Furniture to transit shelters, newsstands/news racks, and kiosks on the sidewalk but visible to both pedestrian and vehicular traffic. Shopping mall panels, convenience store panels and in-store signage are in other definitions part of the greater “Place Based Media” grouping that includes screens in cinema, bars, and more.
Target audience: The intended group of people an advertiser desires to reach, as defined by demographic, socioeconomic, geographic and/or behavioral attributes.
Third-Party Data: Data that is bought as opposed to data an advertiser might collect directly from their customers. It is typically purchased from aggregators, business partners, or data providers. Many times, it is bought to compliment and mirror first and second-party data being used in a campaign to add reach and scale.
Traffic: In OOH media, traffic typically refers to the volumes of people that are moving through the environment where the ads are located and could be on foot or in vehicles. A car carrying 4 people past a billboard would be a traffic count of 4.
Transit Media: In OOH media, transit refers to displays that are on moving vehicles or in the common areas of transit stations and terminals. These include advertising signage on trains, busses, subways, and taxi or ride share vehicles. It also includes non-moving signage at entrances to subways, or on train and subway platforms. Technically Airport advertising in and around airports is part of transit but is often broken out in reporting as its own category, so it is important you clarify what is and is not included.
Unexposed Audience: A measurement of the audience that is not exposed to the ad. It is typically only the audience that is in the target area or part of the total target audience who is not exposed. For instance, if the target audience is all consumers who shop in a convenience store and the signage is inside the store, the unexposed audience might be the consumers who were in the store but not in a position to ever see the ad.
Unique traffic: The unduplicated audience that has an opportunity to see (or likelihood to see depending on the measurement methodology) a given message during a campaign reporting period.
Universe: The total group of persons in a specific geographic area that are the target of an ad campaign regardless of if they were exposed or not exposed to the campaign. They are essentially every person that could be targeted in the geographical area. A universe is not necessarily all people in the area as it may be refined by attributes. As an example, if a brand is targeting a specific market that has a population of 1MM people, the universe could be 1MM if the brand is targeting everyone, or it might be smaller if the brand is only targeting men age 18-54. In that later case, the total population of men aged 18-54 in that market is the “universe”.
Venue: The place and/or location where the advertising screens are located. Examples include airports, bars, cinema, grocery stores, gas stations, office buildings, and other places where consumers can be found.
Verification: For out of home media, verification is the confirmation an ad played according to the contracted agreement between the advertiser or agency and the media operator (publisher). It confirms the ad was on the right screen at the right time for the right duration and much more. Most other digital media is today verified by 3rd party independent verification companies, and now out of home media can be verified. This brings the OOH media closer to on-par with other media thereby able to be purchased together as part of an omni-channel buy. Verification also increases transparency and trust in out of home media.
Viewable impression: In out of home media, a viewable impression is one that is served or hosted on a static or digital out of home ad screen and is viewable by an audience. OOH media does not have the same challenges as other forms of digital media where the definition of a viewable impression needs to include more strict guidelines to play above the fold for a certain amount of time. According to the (MRC Viewable Ad Impression Measurement Guidelines Ver. 2.0), a viewable impression for most digital media requires that it “must be contained in the viewable space of the browser window, it is in an in-focus browser tab, and it meets pre-established minimum percent of ad pixels within the viewable space and the length of time the ad is in the viewable space of the browser. It is recognized that an “opportunity to see” the ad exists with a viewable ad impression”.