OOH & Place-Based Advertising Glossary | PlaceBased Media

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)