Google Brings Digital Billboard To Silicon Roundabout

Google has launched a digital billboard campaign in London's tech hub, Old Street – known locally as 'Silicon Roundabout'. The ads display local information, weather updates, and promotions for nearby cafes.

Increasing urbanisation and consumer mobility is driving a surge in digital outdoor advertising. The global market for outdoor is expected to reach $50.7bn by 2020, according to US market research firm GIA. In the UK, trade body Outdoor Media Centre reported that the sector grew by 6.1% in the fourth quarter of 2014, with British supermarket chain Asda the top buyer. Mark Craze, chief executive of the Outdoor Media Centre, commented that the growth in retailers producing digital outdoor campaigns "is clearly a result of press advertising losing share, which is moving onto digital screens".

The Google campaign offers a perfect case study for the advantages of interactive billboard marketing: engaging highly specific consumer groups with personalised, local information that offers utility as well as a touch of virtual magic.

For more on the benefits of digital outdoor advertising, see our Reimagining Out-Of-Home Advertising report.