Are We Swinging Our Programmatic DOOH Hammer in the Wrong Direction?

nearly a decade later, we’re left asking: Has it delivered?

by Mike Scruby, CEO, Outbrite

For years, the out-of-home (OOH) industry has been striving to break through the 5% share of global ad spend. Despite having the largest audience of any advertising medium, the growth we anticipated has remained elusive. Programmatic DOOH was supposed to be the breakthrough that would finally propel us forward. But nearly a decade later, we’re left asking: Has it delivered?

I’ve seen this story unfold firsthand. Back in 2014, I launched one of the first programmatic DOOH platforms, SiteTour, with Cadreon and TubeMogul. We believed in the promise of automation—making the process more efficient and accessible. Yet, nearly ten years on, the progress has been slower than we’d hoped.

Take Hivestack, for example. They’ve done remarkable work in pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with programmatic DOOH. But the numbers tell a sobering story. According to Perion’s own website, Hivestack’s earnings in 2023 were no more than $45 million across 2 million connected screens. That’s just $22.50 per screen annually before you take fees into account. These aren’t the figures we envisioned when we first set out on this journey.

The truth is, we’ve been looking at programmatic as if it’s the answer to our growth challenges. But it’s not—it’s a tool, and tools are only as effective as the strategy behind them. If we’re serious about growing this industry, we need to look beyond the established channels and start focusing on where the real opportunity lies.

That opportunity is in the long tail of small and local businesses. These businesses contribute nearly 44% of the U.S. GDP and create over 60% of new jobs. They are the heartbeat of our communities, yet they’re spending their advertising dollars—around $180 billion of them—on platforms like Google and Facebook. They do this not because they prefer it, but because it’s easy, accessible, and scalable.

We need to make it just as easy for small businesses to access the power of DOOH as it is for them to use social media. Technically, we can do this today, with new technology that sits outside the traditional agency programmatic ecosystem, designed specifically for local advertisers. It’s simple, scalable, and transparent. It allows anyone to post from a phone to a billboard with all the necessary checks for creative approval. But the question is: are we bold enough to challenge the dominance of Google and Facebook on their own turf?

In our industry, it’s natural to be cautious and to focus on what could go wrong before taking a leap. Concerns about disrupting the role of sales teams, the quality of ads from small businesses, or whether short-term campaigns will work are valid. But we must acknowledge that the greater danger lies in doing nothing different and expecting a breakthrough. We’ve spent the last decade aiming programmatic DOOH at agencies, hoping it would transform our industry, yet the needle hasn’t moved as much as we’d hoped.

Some media owners might worry that embracing a self-serve model could upset their local sales reps. But let’s face it—those reps are focused on clients spending $5,000 or more. Meanwhile small businesses that keep our communities vibrant are being left behind because it’s simply not profitable to service them manually. By automating these smaller transactions, we can tap into a $180 billion market, while our sales teams continue providing white-glove service to the bigger spenders.

Concerns about ad quality are understandable, but let’s not forget what platforms like Instagram have shown us: small business ads can be just as compelling as those from big brands. With AI-driven creative, we can ensure that quality remains high while democratizing access to DOOH.

And when it comes to short-term DOOH campaigns, there’s a fear they won’t deliver results for local clients. But consider the billions of posts on Craigslist each year—local ads for jobs, services, and more. These hyper-local, short-term announcements are exactly the kind of content that DOOH is perfectly suited for, offering unparalleled visibility in the communities where people live and work.

We could continue to focus on the risks and the fear of doing something new, but the real risk is in doing the same thing and hoping for a different outcome. The future of our industry isn’t just about filling ad space nor is it about serving agencies; it’s about revolutionizing how we connect with our audience. By making every screen self-serve and transforming our billboards into dynamic community noticeboards, we can ignite a new era of growth, turning every viewer into an advertiser. The question isn’t just whether we’re ready to seize this opportunity—it’s whether we’re bold enough to lead the charge.

Mike Scruby has spent 20 years in the OOH industry in Sydney and London and is the CEO of Outbrite.

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