27 September 2026 edition | United States
The Out of Home Advertising Association of America (OAAA) announced its Programmatic & Automation Center of Excellence on 24 September, bringing industry coordination into focus for US outdoor advertising buyers. The initiative targets common approaches to standards, automation, measurement and integration with other media channels. OAAA’s announcement sets out its proposed direction.
Who is involved, and what happens next?
Broadsign’s Ari Buchalter will chair the advisory board, with Ashwini Karandikar serving as executive lead. Founding members include AdQuick, Broadsign, Perion, VIOOH and Vistar Media.
The agenda covers standardisation, automated workflows and agentic AI, reporting and attribution, and connections with omnichannel and retail media. OAAA also plans a benchmark study to help shape its 2027 work. These are development priorities; the announcement does not establish completed standards or demonstrate campaign improvements.
Why this matters to advertisers
BillboardGuide’s analysis: The practical test for an industry initiative like this is whether it helps buyers compare proposals and understand delivery with less ambiguity. A media planner needs to know what a screen package contains, which audience assumptions support it and how results will be reported. Those questions remain relevant whether a campaign is purchased through software or negotiated directly.
For brands exploring automated buying, our programmatic DOOH guide provides a starting point for understanding the format. A sensible brief should still specify the audience, geography, campaign period and intended outcome before selecting the transaction method.
The opportunity is to make information easier to exchange while preserving the details that make each physical location useful. A convenient buying interface cannot tell the whole story about viewing conditions, the surrounding environment or whether the creative suits the site.
Measurement should begin with the brief
A useful planning discipline is to separate three questions: did the advertisement run, who was estimated to have an opportunity to see it, and what business outcome was observed? Each requires different evidence. Treating them as interchangeable can make a report appear more conclusive than it is.
Advertisers can prepare now by asking suppliers to define their metrics, explain their audience methodology and identify the evidence supporting each result. Where attribution is proposed, the brief should also set out the comparison method and its limitations before the campaign begins.
BillboardGuide’s article on OOH metrics advertisers should evaluate together offers further planning context. The aim is to choose a measurement approach suited to the objective, rather than select the most impressive-looking number after delivery.
What to watch next
For buyers, useful future signals would include published definitions, practical reporting templates and documented examples of adoption. Those would make the initiative easier to evaluate against everyday planning problems.
In the meantime, procurement teams can create a consistent request for proposal across their outdoor advertising formats. Requiring clear inventory descriptions, delivery evidence and reporting definitions is a practical step that does not depend on a future industry framework.
