Digital OOH specialists Broadsign have struck a new partnership that it says will give OOH owners a better sense of who’s looking at their ads.

The Montreal-based company struck a partnership with U.S.-based data intelligence firm AdMobilize in order to add the latter’s tech to Broadsign’s offerings. With the integration, media owners and the advertisers that buy from them will now have access to more granular data related to the specific audiences in front of the screens. AdMobilize’s audience data will be passed along to Broadsign in real time, updating OOH company’s buying platform and delivering reports on audiences and impressions across various campaigns.

Matthew Mercuri, product owner at Broadsign, says that historically, measurement has been more difficult for the OOH industry – although it’s been remarkable that even without hard numbers to back it up, it’s still regarded as an effective driver of reach.

Nevertheless, as the digital OOH market grows, there are more options for measurement, but Mercuri says it’s difficult to balance that with the privacy aspect. “AdMobilize does a very good job on the privacy front. We have to be cognizant of what is being collected and measured, and they do so in a way that is privacy compliant,” he says.

Being effective and compliant, he says, “is going to lead to the out-of-home industry really catching up and even surpassing expectations.”

Because programmatic buying is on a growth trajectory in OOH, Mercuri says buyers care much more about measurement and data, adding that being able to instantly surface the information will allow buys to be more impression-based. “If you’re an advertiser looking to hit a specific demographic or age group, that’s the piece that will drive the most value.”