Montreal-based programmatic OOH specialists Broadsign has expanded its relationship with tech and media giant Verizon.

The new agreement will see Verizon’s demand-side platform (DSP) integrated into Broadsign Reach’s supply-side platform.

As a result of the partnership, companies that advertise across Verizon’s media channels – which includes Yahoo and HuffPost in Canada – will now instantly have access to Broadsign’s global programmatic digital OOH supply, making it easier to execute omnichannel buys.

While OOH is not Verizon Media’s bread and butter, the company has expressed an increasing interest in DOOH opportunities over the last year. Greg MacDonald, VP of marketplace partnerships at Verizon Media, said in a statement that DOOH adds a premium value to programmatic buys.

Adam Green, SVP and GM of Broadsign Reach, added that programmatic DOOH is currently on a similar trajectory that display advertising was on several years ago. “The past year has seen programmatically available screen inventory reach critical mass with the next steps in the evolution of the industry being enhanced forecasting, decisioning and dynamic optimization,” he says.

Although OOH saw investment quickly topple in early spring at the onset of COVID-19, as traffic ticked up again and inventory became less and less available, a number of buyers told MiC that programmatic and digital OOH will likely have a bigger focus in the future. While most OOH investment was already headed in a digital direction, the flexibility of instant creative swap-outs and cancellation are seen as an increasingly big draw for DOOH.

According to a recent study commissioned by Verizon Media in partnership with Toluna, 80% of consumers recall digital OOH ads, with highway, retail, grocery and gas station venues as the top locations for recall.