Google Puts Outdoor Advertising Budget to Good Use with This Unbelievable Interactive Billboard

Times Square recently became the home of the largest billboard in history. This interactive billboard features a screen by Mitsubishi Electric that’s the size of a football field. The Diamond Vision AVL-ODT10, as it’s known, delivers a pixel density of 2,368 x 10,048, exceeding 4K display resolution by 15 million pixels.Google has become the first company renting this prime advertising space in a campaign that will last through January 31.

 

Not only do they get exclusive advertising rights to this space–through the prime holiday shopping season and Times Square’s New Year’s Eve celebrations–but the tech giant has unveiled new, state-of-the-art technological features, as well. One campaign, which ran for two days, offers consumers the opportunity to “Androidify” themselves on their own smartphone. By customizing OS android mascot, users can create an avatar that looks like themselves, their friends, or their family–and then project it on the largest billboard in the world through use of an exclusive Android app. They can also have their characters printed on t-shirts and postcards.

 

Google’s plans for this expansive advertising space include other campaigns for their own products. But they also have their eye on charitable campaigns featuring the World Wildlife Fund, Charity Water, and more.

 

The billboard is located on 1535 Broadway, between 45th and 46th streets, about a mile and a half from Google’s New York headquarters and is owned by Clear Channel Spectacolor and Vornado Realty Trust. Of the space, a Clear Channel spokesperson told Mashable: This is the largest billboard on Broadway ever. [And] the largest digital billboard in North America.”

 

It’s unclear precisely how much Google paid for the space. However, reports to Ad Age state that ordinary outdoor billboard space in Times Square can run as high as $4 million a year. Dunkin’ Donuts, for example, pays $3.6 million a year for its One Times Square digital sign, and Brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev pays $3.4 million a year for neighboring space.