Skip to main content

Smart billboards will identify car models and target ads to drivers

smart billboards id vehicles target ads billboard vehicle identification
Cloudian.com
Does it bother, please, or amuse you when targeted remarketing by Facebook or Google shows ads for items you recently investigated online? Regardless of how you feel about it, targeted advertising is not only here, but it’s going to increase.

Some day in the not-too-distant future ads you see on billboards will be there simply because of the make, model, and year of the vehicle you’re driving. Smart data storage company Cloudian and Japanese advertising company Dentsu are launching just such a program in Japan this fall, as reported by CNN Money.

Recommended Videos

Cloudian and Dentsu tested smart billboard vehicle recognition earlier this year with impressive results. Combining big data and deep learning, the test identified vehicles in traffic correctly 94 percent of the time.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

The system starts by feeding the smart data storage system hundreds of thousands of used car images, with as many as 4,000 per vehicle make, model, and year. The programmers repeated the process for at least 200 vehicles — the number the system can now recognize correctly. With all those stored images, the deep learning artificial intelligence processes learned accurate pattern recognition of fast-moving vehicles several hundred feet distant.

Once the system has identified a vehicle, it displays a targeted ad on the LED billboard for as long as five seconds. The choice of ads to be displayed to specific vehicles is determined by the advertisers. For example, people driving a five-year old vehicle might see an ad for a newer model of the same car. Truck drivers might be shown ads for upcoming trucker-friendly stops.

As the technology is refined and as advertisers learn more about all types of targeted marketing and advertising we may see more surprising instances of ads we are presented with based on what we’re driving. It’s not that much of a stretch for example, for minivan drivers to be shown ads for family-vacation attractions.

Privacy advocates will likely see smart billboard ads as invasive. Unlike an EZPass electronic toll collection system, however, the Cloudian and Dentsu billboard systems won’t be tracking by license plate, just by vehicle characteristics. At least that’s the plan. Certainly, the license plate scanners used by law enforcement in some cities could give people cause to wonder if they are, or in the future will be, used in conjunction with smart billboards as well.

Bruce Brown
Bruce Brown Contributing Editor   As a Contributing Editor to the Auto teams at Digital Trends and TheManual.com, Bruce…
Hyundai Ioniq 5 sets world record for greatest altitude change
hyundai ioniq 5 world record altitude change mk02 detail kv

When the Guinness World Records (GWR) book was launched in 1955, the idea was to compile facts and figures that could finally settle often endless arguments in the U.K.’s many pubs.

It quickly evolved into a yearly compilation of world records, big and small, including last year's largest grilled cheese sandwich in the world.

Read more
Global EV sales expected to rise 30% in 2025, S&P Global says
ev sales up 30 percent 2025 byd sealion 7 1stbanner l

While trade wars, tariffs, and wavering subsidies are very much in the cards for the auto industry in 2025, global sales of electric vehicles (EVs) are still expected to rise substantially next year, according to S&P Global Mobility.

"2025 is shaping up to be ultra-challenging for the auto industry, as key regional demand factors limit demand potential and the new U.S. administration adds fresh uncertainty from day one," says Colin Couchman, executive director of global light vehicle forecasting for S&P Global Mobility.

Read more
Faraday Future could unveil lowest-priced EV yet at CES 2025
Faraday Future FF 91

Given existing tariffs and what’s in store from the Trump administration, you’d be forgiven for thinking the global race toward lower electric vehicle (EV) prices will not reach U.S. shores in 2025.

After all, Chinese manufacturers, who sell the least expensive EVs globally, have shelved plans to enter the U.S. market after 100% tariffs were imposed on China-made EVs in September.

Read more