Glossary

OOH & Place-Based Advertising GlossaryTerms, defined.

Explore our DOOH and OOH glossary for clear definitions of out-of-home advertising terms, formats, strategies, measurement, and industry terminology.

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Glossary

The Place-Based & OOH Advertising Glossary

Out-of-home advertising has its own vocabulary — some of it borrowed from digital, some of it unique to physical media, and much of it used inconsistently across the industry. This glossary defines the terms that matter for planning, buying, and measuring place-based and out-of-home campaigns, written for media planners, public health communicators, brand marketers, and anyone new to the category.

Each term links to a full definition with current 2026 context. We add and update terms regularly.

OOH (out-of-home)OOH (out-of-home) advertising is any advertising that reaches consumers outside the home: billboards, transit, street furniture, cinema, and place-based media.DOOH (digital out-of-home)DOOH (digital out-of-home) is screen-based out-of-home advertising on programmable digital displays, enabling dayparting, rotation, and measurement.Place-based advertisingPlace-based advertising is media placed inside specific physical venues, such as clinics, schools, bars and gas stations, where audiences naturally gather.Point-of-care advertisingPoint-of-care advertising is place-based media inside healthcare venues, reaching patients and caregivers at the moment they are focused on health decisions.Programmatic OOHProgrammatic OOH is the automated, data-driven buying of out-of-home advertising through demand-side platforms, using audience data and real-time triggers.Programmatic DOOH (pDOOH)Programmatic DOOH (pDOOH) is the automated buying of digital out-of-home screens through DSPs, enabling audience targeting, dayparting, and dynamic creative.CPM (cost per thousand)CPM (cost per thousand) is the price to deliver 1,000 ad impressions. In OOH, CPMs range widely by venue and market.Impressions in OOHIn OOH, an impression is one likely viewer exposure to an ad, based on measured audience traffic past a venue or screen, not a digital page load.Reach and frequencyReach is how many unique people see an ad; frequency is how often they see it. Together they define the exposure profile of any advertising campaign.Dwell timeDwell time is how long an audience spends in a venue where an ad appears. Longer dwell means more opportunity for the message to be seen and remembered.

For the full category overview, start with our pillar guide: What is place-based advertising?

OOH & Place-Based Advertising Glossary | PlaceBased Media

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The Place-Based & OOH Advertising Glossary

Out-of-home advertising has its own vocabulary — some of it borrowed from digital, some of it unique to physical media, and much of it used inconsistently across the industry. This glossary defines the terms that matter for planning, buying, and measuring place-based and out-of-home campaigns, written for media planners, public health communicators, brand marketers, and anyone new to the category.

Each term links to a full definition with current 2026 context. We add and update terms regularly.

Core concepts

Place-based advertising (https://placebased.media/glossary/place-based-advertising) — Media placed inside specific physical venues where target audiences gather.

OOH (https://placebased.media/glossary/ooh) — The umbrella category for all advertising reaching audiences outside the home.

DOOH (https://placebased.media/glossary/dooh) — Digital, screen-based out-of-home advertising.

Point-of-care advertising (https://placebased.media/glossary/point-of-care-advertising) — Media placed in healthcare settings like clinics and pharmacies.

Programmatic OOH (https://placebased.media/glossary/programmatic-ooh) — Automated, data-driven buying of out-of-home inventory.

Programmatic DOOH (pDOOH) (https://placebased.media/glossary/programmatic-dooh) — Programmatic buying applied specifically to digital OOH screens.

CPM (https://placebased.media/glossary/cpm) — The cost to reach one thousand impressions.

Impressions (in OOH) (https://placebased.media/glossary/impressions-ooh) — How out-of-home counts audience exposure.

Dwell time (https://placebased.media/glossary/dwell-time) — How long an audience spends in a venue where an ad appears.

Reach and frequency (https://placebased.media/glossary/reach-frequency) — How many people see an ad, and how often.

For the full category overview, start with our pillar guide: What is Place-Based Advertising? (https://placebased.media/blog/what-is-place-based-advertising-guide)

Cody Cagnina Cody Cagnina

What Are Impressions in OOH? Definition

In out-of-home advertising, an impression represents one likely visual exposure to an ad, derived from measured audience traffic rather than a digital click or load.

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Cody Cagnina Cody Cagnina

What Is Programmatic OOH? Definition

Programmatic OOH is the automated buying and serving of out-of-home inventory through software platforms, using audience data instead of manual, one-off insertion orders.

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Cody Cagnina Cody Cagnina

What Is Place-Based Advertising? Definition

Place-based advertising is a subset of out-of-home media placed inside the specific venues where a target audience gathers, defined by where the audience is rather than how they travel.

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