New Classification System Aims to Demystify OOH Inventory for Digital Buyers, Mirroring Retail Media and CTV Precision
NEW YORK, NY – February 10, 2026 – The Out of Home Advertising Association of America (OAAA) today announced a significant update to its OpenOOH venue taxonomy, a move poised to revolutionize how programmatic buyers interact with digital Out-of-Home (OOH) inventory. This enhanced classification system, an evolution of the taxonomy first introduced in 2020, introduces a hierarchical structure designed to provide the granular detail that programmatic buyers demand, moving beyond broad venue categories to specific location-based insights. The OAAA is also integrating its dedicated OpenOOH Taxonomy Working Group into its broader Taxonomy Committee, ensuring ongoing development and maintenance of this critical industry standard.
For years, the digital Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising landscape has categorized inventory based on general venue types. This approach, while historically functional, has become increasingly inadequate in the era of sophisticated programmatic buying. Advertisers and their agencies, accustomed to the precise targeting capabilities offered by digital channels like retail media networks and Connected TV (CTV), found the generic classifications of "retail" or "transit" to be insufficient. This lack of specificity not only hindered their ability to seamlessly integrate OOH into their omnichannel strategies but also eroded confidence in the transparency of the OOH programmatic ecosystem. When publishers and Supply-Side Platforms (SSPs) aggregated media of varying quality under broad umbrellas, it inevitably led to questions about the true value and placement of digital OOH assets.
The revised OpenOOH taxonomy directly addresses these long-standing challenges. By adopting a "parent/children/grandchildren" schema, media owners can now meticulously classify their digital screens within Open Real-Time Bidding (RTB) requests. This means a digital screen situated at an airport’s baggage claim, for example, can be precisely tagged as "transit/airports/baggage claim," a far cry from the previous, more generalized "transit" designation. This level of detail empowers programmatic buyers to understand exactly what they are bidding on, facilitating more strategic and effective campaign planning.
A Strategic Pivot Towards Programmatic Integration
The timing of this taxonomy update is particularly astute, coinciding with a period of significant growth and evolution in digital advertising. As programmatic buying continues its expansion across various media channels, OOH is positioned to capture a larger share of this burgeoning market.
"Programmatic advertisers require a more streamlined and precise method to integrate OOH inventory as a natural extension of their omnichannel campaigns, especially when considering retail media and CTV buys," stated Premesh Purayil, CTO at OUTFRONT Media, a prominent OOH publisher. "This updated taxonomy directly addresses that need, making OOH more accessible and attractive to a wider range of digital-first advertisers."
Anna Bager, President and CEO of the OAAA, echoed this sentiment, emphasizing the strategic imperative for OOH to align with the programmatic buying paradigms that have fueled recent explosions in retail media and CTV ad spend. "By bringing our media classification more in line with programmatic buying, Out-of-Home publishers can truly capitalize on the incredible growth we’ve witnessed in these adjacent digital sectors," Bager remarked.
The OOH industry has demonstrated remarkable resilience and growth in recent years. Following a challenging period during the COVID-19 pandemic, OOH has experienced a sustained rebound, marked by 18 consecutive quarters of ad revenue growth. According to OAAA data, the third quarter of 2025 saw a 4.5% year-over-year improvement in ad spend, reaching a record $2.13 billion for that period. Despite this robust performance, a significant portion of OOH advertising remains a directly sold channel. Open-auction programmatic, while growing, still represents a fraction of total OOH ad spend, largely due to the aforementioned limitations in inventory classification.
Deconstructing the New Taxonomy: Precision Over Generalization
The core innovation of the updated OpenOOH taxonomy lies in its hierarchical structure. This "parent/children/grandchildren" model allows for a cascading level of detail, enabling media owners to define their inventory with unprecedented specificity. Consider the example of a digital screen within a retail environment. Instead of simply being categorized as "retail," it can now be specified as "retail/supermarket/produce aisle" or "retail/apparel/fitting rooms." This granular approach allows advertisers to align their OOH placements with specific consumer journeys and brand objectives.
Previously, the OpenRTB specification included a venueTypeString field, a free-text field that media owners and SSPs could utilize to manually input more detailed venue information. While this offered some flexibility, its reliance on manual input and inconsistent application across different platforms made it challenging for programmatic systems to parse accurately.
"The old taxonomy did allow for some manual detail through the venueTypeString, but free-text fields are inherently difficult for programmatic systems to read with consistent accuracy due to variations in application across platforms," explained Purayil. "The new standard eliminates that guesswork. By establishing a structured, hierarchical taxonomy, the venueTypeString field is now deprecated in favor of this more robust and machine-readable classification system."
The OAAA’s proactive approach to standardizing OOH data is crucial for its continued integration into the programmatic ecosystem. The organization has been working closely with industry bodies to ensure seamless adoption. While AdExchanger reached out to the IAB Tech Lab for comment on their plans to incorporate the new OOH taxonomy into the OpenRTB specification and deprecate legacy fields, no response was received by press time. However, the industry’s momentum towards greater standardization suggests a collaborative future.
Democratizing Access and Enhancing Targeting Capabilities
The implications of this more granular taxonomy extend beyond mere transparency; they are poised to democratize access to OOH inventory and significantly enhance targeting capabilities for advertisers.
"With these more detailed categories, advertisers can zero in on the precise OOH inventory they want to utilize for omnichannel audience extension," Purayil noted. "For instance, CPG brands can now target the specific types of stores where their products are actually sold, rather than settling for the broad ‘retail’ category. This leads to more relevant and impactful campaigns."
The flexibility afforded by the new taxonomy allows advertisers to define not only the venue but also the specific location within a venue where their ads will appear. A potato chip brand, for example, might opt for street-facing displays in the windows of local bodegas to capture impulse purchases, while a pharmaceutical brand might prefer screens positioned near pharmacy counters inside drug stores, reaching consumers actively seeking health-related products.
Furthermore, the enhanced granularity helps advertisers avoid what Purayil terms "sorta CTV" OOH placements. These are typically digital screens, such as TVs mounted in bars, that may resemble CTV environments but lack the same audience measurement and targeting precision. For a brand whose CTV creative relies heavily on sound, these environments might be undesirable. Conversely, a brand targeting sports fans with ad creative where audio is less critical might intentionally seek out "sorta CTV" inventory to broaden their reach.
By clearly distinguishing these nuanced OOH placements, the taxonomy addresses concerns from both buy and sell sides. Advertisers gain access to more relevant media, ensuring their messages are seen by the intended audience in the most appropriate contexts. Publishers, in turn, can more effectively demonstrate the unique value of their inventory, confident that mismatched placements are not negatively impacting campaign performance and thereby eroding their perceived value.
Empowering Smaller Publishers and Shifting Transaction Models
Beyond enhanced targeting for major brands, the new taxonomy is expected to level the playing field for smaller, more niche OOH publishers. Large OOH platforms often benefit from established relationships with specialist agencies and robust direct sales teams, allowing agency buyers to easily understand and plan campaigns across their networks. Smaller publishers, lacking these established infrastructures, often struggle to gain visibility and facilitate programmatic activation.
"Smaller OOH publishers that adopt this new taxonomy can significantly ease the activation of their inventory through programmatic channels," Purayil observed. "This provides them with a more straightforward pathway to compete and attract advertisers who prefer programmatic buying workflows."
The updated taxonomy is also anticipated to influence transaction models within the OOH industry. Currently, a substantial portion of OOH programmatic revenue flows through private marketplace (PMP) deals, where buyers and sellers negotiate specific terms and inventory.
"The revenue is already flowing in heavily through the private marketplace side," Purayil stated. "However, this new taxonomy has the potential to shift some of that revenue into the open marketplace, if it proves efficient and beneficial for both buyers and sellers. This could lead to greater liquidity and broader participation in programmatic OOH trading."
The integration of the OpenOOH taxonomy into the broader programmatic ecosystem represents a significant step forward for the OOH industry. By providing the precision, transparency, and data richness that digital buyers expect, OAAA is not only reinforcing OOH’s position as a powerful advertising medium but also paving the way for its continued growth and integration into the ever-evolving landscape of programmatic advertising. The enhanced ability to classify and trade OOH inventory with the same level of sophistication as other digital channels promises to unlock new opportunities and drive greater value for advertisers and publishers alike.
