Alex Webb, Columnist

Google’s Targeted Ads Are Coming to a Billboard Near You

The next big thing is matching promotions to people by harvesting mobile data.

August 10, 2018 at 11:26 AM UTC

Alex Webb is a correspondent for Bloomberg Quicktake. He previously covered the technology, telecoms and media industries in London, San Francisco and Munich.

And on to a bigger canvas.
Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg

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Google may be about to pair all that data it has on users’ web browsing with the ads displayed on public billboards. Creepy? Maybe. Inevitable? Almost certainly.

The Alphabet Inc. unit is in talks in Germany about pushing into out-of-home advertising — billboards in stations, shopping centers and shop windows — according to WirtschaftsWoche. The move would be a precursor to similar expansion in the U.S. and the U.K., the magazine said.