e-Billboarding and AI Autonomous Cars - AI Trends

During a normal daily commute in a big city, you might see about 20 to 30 billboards, though you are likely so used to the presence of the billboards that you don't give any conscious thought toward them. Interestingly, there are an estimated 350,000 billboards throughout the United States. Estimates of the amount of money spent on billboards annually in the U.S. vary, but many would guess it is around $8 billion dollars. In essence, those billboards that you drive past at 65 miles per hour, and for which maybe you notice and maybe you don't, they are big business involving big bucks. Advertisers seem to think that billboards are worth paying for. The companies that own billboards and seek out advertisers are of the belief that advertisers are wise to use billboards. There are some billboards that are rather mundane and do not especially standout. I dare say that a number of the billboards are about trying to sell new cars and they often don't leap off the page, so to speak, and I wonder how much good those billboards are doing. Admittedly, these are billboards that are right next to the new car dealerships selling such cars, and so it is handy to have the billboard as a kind of "I'm here" signpost for anyone considering stopping to look at buying a new car. One billboard that gets attention is one involving a mannequin of a cow on it, offering a 3D visualization that can catch the eye as you drive past it (you probably know the billboard, it is for a fast food chain that sells mainly chicken). Another type of billboard that can be particularly noticeable is an electronic one that is constantly changing from one image to another, and changes throughout the week. It is easy for the company owning the billboard to showcase new items and avoid the usual labor-intensive act of having to put up a large-scale poster or otherwise do something physical when putting on a fresh ad for the billboard. These so-called electronic billboards, often referred to as e-billboards, offer the advantage of being easy and quick for displaying any new or changing ads. If you've ever been to Times Square in New York City (NYC), you've undoubtedly seen the plethora of e-billboards displayed there.