OUTFRONT Taps AWS to Drag Billboard Ads Into the AI Era

OUTFRONT Media is partnering with AWS and MadConnect to overhaul the out-of-home (OOH) advertising industry, introducing an AI-powered platform to automate how billboard and transit ads are planned, purchased, and measured, as first reported by AdExchanger. The move is designed to transform the traditionally manual channel—a world still largely run on spreadsheets and direct negotiations—into a digitized marketplace comparable to modern online advertising.

• Billboard buying bots: The initiative will let ad agencies use natural language prompts to find available inventory, execute buys with AI agents, and measure performance within the same omnichannel dashboards they use for online, mobile, and connected TV ads, making the entire process as streamlined as launching a digital campaign.

• From periphery to primetime: The collaboration is being framed as a "structural leap" for the OOH industry. MadConnect CEO Bob Walczak described the move as "the point when OOH moved from the periphery of media planning into the heart of the digital ecosystem," signaling a major push to make the channel more central to advertisers' strategies.

• Hitting the ground running: OUTFRONT isn't waiting to put its new system to the test. The company has already started talks with key ad holding companies about plugging the platform directly into their existing planning workflows, aiming for immediate integration and adoption.

The partnership positions OUTFRONT to capture a larger slice of ad budgets by making OOH more competitive with digital channels. The move could set a new technology standard for the entire industry, forcing competitors to follow suit or risk being left behind.