Drive down almost any highway in The U.S. and you will eventually see an electronic display sign. Whether they’re on the roadside warning of upcoming construction, road closure, or high in the air, outdoor messaging displays are everywhere. But the digital billboard advertising of today has come a long way since the very first outdoor LED displays.

The First Digital Billboards

The first digital billboards, which we still see today, are simple roadside monochrome text-only signs. These signs were designed to warn drivers of upcoming issues such as construction zones, lane closures or even whole road closures. We still count on these signs to communicate what to expect on the road ahead. Communicating in this manner creates a safer road for construction workers as well as drivers and passengers of vehicles by alerting us to slow down.

Digital Billboards Today: Full Color Outdoor Advertising

What we are seeing more and more of now are large full color digital billboards. While these are a great source of added revenue to the outdoor billboard companies, they can also be advantageous to motorists. These LED billboards can be changed in minutes to display public service announcements, such as broadcasting missing children alerts.

Highway beautification advocates also have a reason to like electronic outdoor signange, because they have the ability to display multiple advertisements on one billboard. With this ability to display multiple ads, there are less billboards being created. This technology also allows for one advertiser to have multiple ads on one board or to even customize their message to days of the week or times of the day.

There have been some major advancements in recent years when it comes to digital billboards and outdoor advertising, but there's no doubt that the innovation will continue.