The Reason Programmatic DOOH Gets a Bad Rap (And How to Fix It)

Groundworks leverages programmatic digital billboards to increase reach and frequency of their OOH campaigns. Mock-up shown from a campaign targeting California.

Written by: Jeff Aldridge, Head of New Business

I attended the MediaPost Programmatic DOOH Summit back in May, where brands, agencies, DSPs, and media owners shared their experiences with Programmatic Digital Out of Home (PDOOH). Listening to the panels and conversations, I noticed that PDOOH has started to get a bit of a bad rap lately.

Yet, it remains an incredibly efficient way to activate digital OOH campaigns, and advertisers will absolutely continue to buy media this way. In fact, programmatic adoption is booming. According to the OAAA, it accounted for 36.3% of total OOH revenue for 2025, increasing 10.5% year over year. VIOOH also released its annual research report, featuring a couple of impressive stats:

• 99% of recent buyers expect to increase or maintain their PDOOH investment, with an average anticipated uplift of 44% over the next 18 months.

• 95% of those planning to increase spend globally expect to reallocate budget from other digital channels (including traditional DOOH).

  
  

Investment is skyrocketing, but there is still plenty of confusion around where PDOOH fits into an overall strategy. And that confusion is exactly what leads to dissatisfaction.

A Different Buying Model, Not a Replacement

PDOOH is celebrated for its speed and its capability to activate an ad at the right place, the right time, and to the right audience using specific contextual triggers and automated buying.

The issue is that some buyers expect PDOOH to deliver the exact same experience as a traditional, direct OOH buy. Others dismiss the channel entirely after a single campaign fails to meet those skewed expectations. In reality, it’s simply a different buying model with its own distinct strengths.

From these industry conferences, I’ve learned that brands are using programmatic to extend reach, increase frequency, test new markets, and activate campaigns with speed. They are also using it to access larger markets that might otherwise be cost-prohibitive on a traditional contract.

On the flip side, many of the frustrations I heard weren't actually about programmatic itself. They were about expectations.

Managing Expectations for PDOOH Campaigns

If you expect to own a specific billboard, drive by to see your ad at the exact same time every day, or receive manual proof-of-performance photos, you are probably going to be disappointed. That is simply not what programmatic is designed to do.

I don't look at this as a battle of traditional versus programmatic. Instead, I look at what the campaign is trying to accomplish. Sometimes that calls for a traditional buy. Sometimes it requires programmatic. More often than not, the ideal solution is a strategic combination of both.

As OOH experts, it is our responsibility to set the right expectations upfront so clients understand exactly what they are getting and why it's the right choice for their goals.

The Two Pillars of a Great PDOOH Strategy

When I pitch programmatic as a buying method, I always highlight two foundational elements:

• Context is everything in OOH: When you think about your audience, what are they doing in the morning, during the day, or at night? Is it a weekday or the weekend? Are they traveling by car, riding public transit, or walking? Is there a major event happening that day? Is it the slow summer season or the Q4 rush? Knowing these details determines which OOH formats to use, when to use them, and where.

• Strategy dictates the channel, not the other way around: True strategy isn’t just about picking a couple of random billboards to tack onto your digital display campaigns. While it’s great that more buyers can access digital OOH via various DSPs, your core objective must shape the strategy. Advertisers wanting a big brand moment should prioritize formats like billboards. Those looking to reach consumers near points of purchase or provide directional info should opt for street-level formats.

If you want efficiency, flexibility, scale, and the ability to pull a variety of precise targeting levers, PDOOH absolutely belongs in your multi-channel advertising mix.

Breaking Down the Core Benefits of PDOOH

If you are entirely new to the space or wondering if it’s right for your brand, you can get familiar with the basics via our step-by-step guide on how PDOOH works or browse our PDOOH FAQs.

In brief, PDOOH’s greatest strengths come down to three things:

• Efficiency: Out of home media vendors have done the heavy lifting to organize and open up their inventory via DSPs. As a buyer, you skip the complexities of manual discovery. Inventory selection, market targeting, creative uploads, and campaign confirmations are all handled via automation. Because you can monitor performance in real-time, optimizations can be done with just a few clicks.

• Flexibility: This streamlined workflow offers flexibility. You aren't locked into campaign minimums or long-term spend commitments. You can select specific markets, target down to individual zip codes, choose your preferred formats, and use dayparting to specify the exact hours your campaign runs. You can even swap out creative by market or set up dynamic triggers based on real-time weather or live data feeds.

• Scale: Because DSPs provide transparency into available impressions and screens, you can scale your campaign up or down instantly. The key thing to remember with PDOOH is that instead of buying a single, guaranteed unit, you are buying from a broader pool of inventory that dynamically meets your specific target conditions.

Visit Myrtle Beach uses PDOOH for its flexibility to reach consumers with contextual creative advertisements.

Turning the Conversation Around

So, how do we do better as an industry? We start by managing expectations upfront? Transparency is key. We must take the time to provide the foundational education clients need to feel confident in the strategy. Finally, we have to respect that an OOH impression is entirely different from a standard web or mobile digital impression. Context and strategy will always be the key ingredients of a successful PDOOH campaign.

How PJX Media Can Help

PJX Media doesn't just plan and buy PDOOH. We bring deep, foundational OOH expertise to the table to ensure every format, buying model, and variation of out-of-home advertising works together in perfect harmony.

Let's work together!