March 24, 2004
Yahoo! Billboard Goes Live in Times Square
To promote its automotive Web site, Yahoo! and interactive shop R/GA have created a billboard that allows pedestrians to play a video game broadcast on part of the 23-stories-tall Reuters sign in Times Square here via their cell phones, reports Adweek.
"The billboard, which went live on Monday and will operate through April 22, is timed to coincide with the New York International Automotive Show being held April 9-18. It also coincides with the launch of the revamped Yahoo! auto site, which now offers a personalized research section, among other features".
The company's sign technology, called RFIB and similar to toll roads' Easy-Pass systems, could be expanded to customized billboards in the near future, according to John Mayo-Smith, vice president of technology at R/GA. For example, a digital billboard might be programmed to have a different image depending on whether a car or a motorcycle passed it.
"The whole point of this is to take the outdoor channel to the next level," said Mayo-Smith. "If you can do that in Times Square, you can do that anywhere."
The Permanent Link to this page is: http://www.textually.org/textually/archives/2004/03/003405.htm
