DOOH Adoption Triples as Brands Report Strong Profitability
2026-10-22 · via Digital Signage Today
Digital out-of-home advertising is paying off for the brands that use it, according to new data from Keen Decision Systems, a software-as-a-service platform, and Accretive, an OOH data and technology provider. The companies say 89% of brands investing in DOOH are seeing profitable returns, a figure that matters for anyone selling ad inventory on screens or trying to justify a network's ad business to advertisers.
The data, released in a joint press release, shows DOOH-specific adoption rising from 1.1% to 3.4% over the past year, which the companies describe as tripling. Broader out-of-home adoption, which includes traditional static formats alongside digital, grew from 21.3% to 25.2% over the same period. The release attributes the growth to a larger pool of advertisers entering the channel rather than existing spenders simply increasing budgets, though the release does not break out exactly how much of that growth is DOOH versus static OOH beyond the headline percentages.
Craig Benner, CEO of Accretive, said in the release that the acceleration shows brands recognize the value of real-world exposure, but cautioned that results vary widely depending on execution. "Treating out-of-home as a nice-to-have tacked onto a generic omnichannel DSP strategy, buying it like a cheap impression on the open web, severely diminishes its impact," Benner said. "Proper DOOH execution requires real audience planning, purpose-built data, and rigorous outcomes measurement."
Big brands lead, smaller ones lag
The data points to a clear gap by company size. Fifty-eight percent of brands generating more than $1 billion in annual revenue use OOH in their media mix, compared with only 10% of businesses under $50 million in revenue. That disparity suggests DOOH adoption among smaller advertisers, including local retailers and regional chains that make up a large share of digital signage network customers, still has considerable room to grow.
For operators running retail media networks or selling ad space on digital signage, the data offers a talking point for pitching skeptical advertisers, particularly smaller ones that have not historically budgeted for OOH. But the release's own framing is a caution as much as an endorsement: it credits strong returns to disciplined audience planning and measurement, not to the format alone. The announcement does not detail the methodology behind the 89% profitability figure, the sample size of brands surveyed, or how "profitable returns" was defined, which limits how far the numbers can be stretched in a sales conversation.
The release does not say whether Keen Decision Systems and Accretive plan to publish fuller methodology or follow-up research tracking adoption trends going forward.
The announcement in full
Reproduced from Digital Signage Today for reference. Digital Signage Magazine did not write the text below.
Digital out-of-home media is delivering strong bottom-line results, with 89% of investing brands seeing profitable returns, according to data from software-as-service platform Keen Decision Systems and OOH data and technology platform Accretive.
Adoption has tripled over the past year, according to the data. Broader OOH adoption has increased in the past year, growing from 21.3% to 25.2%, fueled by a larger pool of advertisers and DOOH-specific adoption rising from 1.1% to 3.4%, according to a press release on the data findings.
"The rapid acceleration of DOOH proves brands recognize the power of real-world exposure, yet the wide range in returns shows that execution strategy largely determines success," Craig Benner, Accretive CEO, said in the release. "Treating out-of-home as a nice-to-have tacked onto a generic omnichannel DSP strategy, buying it like a cheap impression on the open web, severely diminishes its impact. Proper DOOH execution requires real audience planning, purpose-built data, and rigorous outcomes measurement."
Fifty-eight percent of brands generating more than $1 billion in annual revenue leverage OOH in their media mix. Conversely, only 10% of businesses under $50 million in revenue currently invest in the channel.
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