Billboards may be the second-hottest advertising format in the U.S., but measuring them isn't getting easier. Marketers had hoped that Nielsen's GPS tracking system, in which consumers in LA and Chicago had their exact movements tracked via a small device and compared to billboard coordinates, would be expanded by the Traffic Audit Bureau.
No dice. TAB, which audits traffic counts for the outdoor industry, is walking away from GPS measurement citing the high cost. Instead, next year TAB will launch a new estimate of viewers for outdoor based on the eye movements of test subjects who, um, watch video simulation of billboards rolling by the highway. Media buyers may get slightly better data than the old DEC (daily effective circulation); DEC measured all the cars passing by, where the new Eyes On system will estimate the portion of people who actually see the boards. The fact that DEC will now be discounted in acknowledgment that many drivers ignore boards is a good thing--now, media planners can at least estimate impressions without padding.
Nielsen's GPS tests had some intriguing findings. About 75% of consumers who drive under a highway overpass will notice a 200-square-foot board. Only 30% of consumers passing a bus stand will notice the image. As for the rest of outdoor, now, we may never really know.
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