Guide
Out-of-home advertising in Australia.
Out-of-home (OOH) advertising in Australia reaches people in public - roadside billboards, transit, street furniture and place-based digital screens - in a market worth around $1.1 billion. Most is bought on a modelled audience currency. Newer point-of-sale formats like counter advertising add a layer where each impression is a real view we count rather than an estimate.
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 runs on a modelled number. One layer of your plan can run on a counted one.
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
- A focused point-of-sale layer, not a mass-reach billboard replacement.
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 | $$$ | Walled garden | Targeted |
| Counter advertising | At-purchase, measured | $ | Counted view | Focused |
1 · Market size: OMA / industry estimate. Cost is relative: $ light, $$$ heavy - treat as a starting shape, not a quote.
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. That's the right tool for fame, and Tap won't replace a billboard or a transit buy for scale. What Tap adds is the one layer you can hand a CFO: full-screen at the moment of payment, 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 reaches people in public, away from their own screens - billboards, transit, street furniture and place-based screens. It is one of the oldest advertising formats and remains a core brand-reach channel, valued for scale, unskippable presence and physical-world impact.
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 by a modelled audience currency - an estimate of how many people were likely to see a site. It is an industry standard, but it is a projection, not a count. Counter advertising differs: each impression is a real view we count at a location, not a modelled estimate.
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.