Guide
Out-of-home advertising in Australia.
By the Tap Ads team. Updated .
Out-of-home (OOH) advertising is any ad people see outside their home: roadside billboards, buses and trains, bus shelters and digital screens in shopping centres, gyms and cafés. In 2025 it took $1.45 billion in Australia, about three quarters of it on digital screens (Outdoor Media Association). Most of it is bought on a modelled audience. Newer point-of-sale formats like counter advertising add a layer where each view is counted.
Below are the six OOH formats a national plan draws on, what each is best for, how it's measured and where it wins - so you can see where a counted, at-purchase layer fits alongside the reach.
The whole category is priced on a modelled audience, so it's worth having one layer of the plan measured instead.
The formats
The six out-of-home formats.
- 01
Roadside billboards
The icons - large-format classic and digital sites on arterials and highways.
- Best for
- City-scale fame and unmissable presence.
- Rough cost
- High, and higher for premium sites.
- The catch
- A roughly one-second glance, audience modelled, and the site is shared.
- 02
Transit
Bus, rail, tram and airport advertising that rides the daily commute.
- Best for
- Repeat metro exposure to commuters.
- Rough cost
- Mid to high.
- The catch
- Cluttered environments, modelled audience, and a passing look.
- 03
Street furniture
Bus shelters, panels and small-format sites at street level.
- Best for
- Pedestrian and suburban coverage.
- Rough cost
- Mid.
- The catch
- A glance in passing, and reach is modelled rather than counted.
- 04
Place-based and programmatic DOOH
Screens where audiences dwell - gyms, offices, shopping centres - bought increasingly by daypart and trigger.
- Best for
- Contextual, flexible, targeted digital placement.
- Rough cost
- Variable, often efficient.
- The catch
- Measurement still counts a device that passed a screen, not a person who acted.
- 05
Retail media
Screens and placements inside retailers, near the shelf and the purchase.
- Best for
- Shopper marketing at the point of decision.
- Rough cost
- Retailer-set, often premium.
- The catch
- Retailer-gated, and the measurement lives inside their walled garden.
- 06
Counter advertising
Full-screen at the payment moment across independent cafés, bars and shops - exclusive or shared, and every impression a real view we count.
- Best for
- A measured, unskippable, at-purchase layer in the mix.
- Rough cost
- By quote - one brand per location if you want it exclusive, or shared at a lower rate. Ask us for a rate.
- The catch
- It builds familiarity over repeat visits, rather than a same-day response.
Side by side
The formats, compared.
| Format | Best for | Rough cost | Measurement | Scale |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roadside billboards | City fame | $$$ | Modelled | Mass |
| Transit | Commuter reach | $$ | Modelled | Broad |
| Street furniture | Pedestrian coverage | $$ | Modelled | Broad |
| Place-based / pDOOH | Contextual, flexible | $$ | Device passed | Targeted |
| Retail media | Shopper marketing | $$$ | Walled garden | Targeted |
| Counter advertising | At-purchase, measured | $ | Counted view | Focused |
Market size: Outdoor Media Association, full-year 2025 net media revenue. Cost is relative: $ light, $$$ heavy - treat it as a starting shape, not a quote.
Digital out-of-home
DOOH, explained.
Digital out-of-home (DOOH) is the screen-based part of OOH: digital billboards, screens at train stations and airports, and place-based networks in shopping centres, gyms, offices and cafés. Because the screens are digital, the ad can change by time of day, location or weather.
You can book DOOH directly with a media owner, or buy it programmatically through a demand-side platform (DSP), the same way online display ads are bought. Either way, a content system sends each ad to the right screens at the right times.
Most DOOH is still measured with the same audience model as the rest of OOH: an estimate of who was likely to walk or drive past. Counter advertising counts each view on the screen at the moment people pay.
Where Tap fits
The one layer you can count.
The whole OOH market trades on a modelled currency, a projection of who was likely to see a site, and that suits fame at scale. What Tap adds is the one layer you can hand a CFO: full screen at the moment of payment, with every impression a real view we count.
Use it as the measured, high-attention complement to a reach-driven OOH plan - the part that comes back with a counted number instead of a modelled one.
The basics
Out-of-home, explained.
What is out-of-home advertising?
Out-of-home (OOH) advertising, also called outdoor advertising or out-of-home marketing, is any ad people see away from their own screens: billboards, transit, street furniture and place-based screens. It's one of the oldest ad formats and still a core way to build a brand, valued for scale and presence people can't skip.
What is digital out-of-home (DOOH)?
Digital out-of-home is the screen-based form of OOH: digital billboards, transit screens and place-based networks that can change creative by time, place and audience, and increasingly be bought programmatically. It adds flexibility and targeting to the reach and presence traditional OOH is known for.
How is out-of-home advertising measured in Australia?
Most OOH is measured with an industry audience model, an estimate of how many people were likely to see a site. It's the standard way the category is bought, and it's a projection. On counter advertising, each impression is a real view we count at a location.
How much does out-of-home advertising cost in Australia?
It depends on the format, the location and how long you book. Large roadside and premium city sites cost the most, while street furniture and place-based screens usually cost less. Counter advertising is booked by location, alone or shared with other brands, so ask us for a rate for the areas you want.
Add the counted layer to your plan.
Tell us the brand, the audience and the markets, and we'll show you what a counted point-of-sale layer looks like alongside your OOH buy. A real person replies, and there's no obligation.