“God sees everything,” repeated Wilson.

“That’s an advertisement,” Michaelis assured him.

The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald

Fitzgerald’s version of the billboard’s all-seeing eye in his classic Gatsby has come to pass. Developments in facial detection technology now allow advertisers to measure and analyze viewers for information that will help them predict the products you’ll buy, based on your age range and what you look like.

What is facial detection technology?

Computers are able to view your face as a set of data points and measurement of features. Use of these measurements can provide advertisers a new way to connect with customers. Immersive Lab has recently developed software for billboards that will determine the age range and gender of individuals based on their facial features.

Why is this software useful?

• Helps companies know who is attending to their adverts
• Helps marketers gear adverts to the attending group
• Facial analysis gives feedback on the effectiveness of adverts
• Adverts can eventually be custom made for specific people, based on facial features; for example, if a woman is attending to the billboard, an advert for her gender will show
• Potential for the viewer’s emotions to decide which adverts will be displayed

How is it being used now?

A children’s charity group, Plan UK, is currently using this software in an advertisement at bus stops for their “Because I Am A Girl” campaign. Facial detection software determines the gender of the observer. A woman passerby will be shown a 40-second clip, while men will only be directed to the group’s website.

What if I don’t want to participate?

Opting out of this sort of technology is difficult, and the privacy issues surrounding the technology are growing in concern. Many are concerned that innocent measures of age and gender will one day measure features we would rather keep private. Individuals could one day be tracked and identified in a matter of seconds.

Will you be one who enjoys the relevance of advertisements and messages sent to you, or will you be turned off by this personalization? This is one innovation we’ll continue to watch.

Lamar is noted in court documents as having ownership over 18 billboards in Oxford, Mississippi. The company states in their suit in federal court that the city went against the agency’s First Amendment right to freedom of commercial speech. If the city wins the initial suit in the federal court an additional suit has been made in an effort to ensure that they receive some sort of monetary compensation.

The city’s defense is that they have a right to control the number and dimensions of billboards within the city of Oxford. The court has yet to make a decision on the cases.

City Council will vote on the land development code proposal in June, but there’s a catch. The proposal states that for each new digital billboard the companies create, they much take down 10 traditional boards. Under their deal with the city, this number includes both existing and proposed boards.

Tampa city officials have been battling for years about outdoor advertising. Billboard numbers have decreased by one third from their number of 1300 citywide three years ago. In the settlement, Clear Channel and CBS have the right to six electronic billboards each in the city. Historic districts are off limits; boards are only allowed on certain roads with limits to their brightness levels.

City officials are pleased with the deal because it removes boards from neighborhoods. City Councilman Mike Suarez said, “I’ve actually been quite surprised and happy with the type of compromise they came up with.”

Councilman Frank Reddick wants limits to billboard placement: “I do not want the city to become what it used to be — billboards all over the place,”

President of Tampa-based public relations firm, Pressman & Associates, Todd Pressman noted that Tampa’s advertising rules have become a model for other cities. Pressman said, “This ordinance is pointed to in every jurisdiction we go to.”

If other cities are modeling their advertising rules on Tampa’s precedence, why are these companies acting to change it? Tom O’Neill, a spokesman for Clear Channel, answered that question stating how the company wants to expand its presence in the Tampa market while working with the community. “With the legal issues behind us, Clear Channel Outdoor is thrilled to be back working with local government and will continually strive to meet the needs of the community,” O’Neill said. “We strongly believe enhancing the digital agreement is an integral part of that commitment.”

The current lease is held by Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings Inc.’s CCO +1.64% Clear Channel Spectacolor unit. Kodak decided to sell instead of break their lease when several interested buyers surfaced; a sale to the highest bidder would be more beneficial to the company. Orange Barrel Media started the bidding at $3.7 million.

A decision by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan on April 16th will determine Kodak’s request to sell the lease. Another hearing 2 days later will determine the requested advert restrictions for the site located above the Marriott Marquis Hotel on Broadway in Midtown Manhattan.

Digital billboards allow businesses to advertise more efficiently and effectively. It’s also cost effective for all involved parties. Previous traditional billboards cost near $1500 to a print, and now businesses need only send a computer file.

It is estimated 75 percent of Missouri’s 8,800 billboards are out of compliance, meaning they can’t be improved or changed. This leaves only about 100 to 150 signs that may be  converted to digital format in the next decade, that is, if the legislation is passed. The main roadblock at the moment is the cost of conversion: approximately $500,000 for both sides of a one-side billboard.

City regulations are the only concern at this point. Todd Cagnoni from the City of Rockford said, “Well, I can certainly understand why it would be intriguing. Currently the city of Rockford regulations would not allow that. In the long run it would be beneficial to the City of Rockford as well as the person who is living in the house because you’re going to keep a taxpayer.”

How popular is this idea? Well, more than a thousand people in Illinois have applied for the program, and Brainiacs plans to paint at least 100 houses nationwide by the end of the year.

For more info on this opportunity, check out http://brainiacsfrommars.com/paintmyhouse.html.

With each move by Apple scrutinized since Steve Jobs’ passing, this particular marketing error didn’t slide by undetected. It didn’t take Apple long to fix the error though; their billboard advert has now been replaced with one for the newer iPad model.

Other aspects of the contract include converting five billboards from static to digital faces, inclusion of the shared fee from billboard adverts between Clear Channel and the Turnpike Authority, and the option of extending the contract 15 years.

The New Jersey Turnpike Authority should receive a projected $22 million from the deal over 20 years, while Clear Channel will get an estimated $39 million in revenue.

The timing of this decision may be part of the contention- this past June, Rapid City passed an ordinance to keep new billboards out of city limits. If the senate passes the bill, and it becomes law as expected, the Rapid City referendum would not be retroactively affected.

Ads that display text in Hebrew and English will go to Brooklyn on Monday, versions in Arabic will go up also in Paterson, New Jersey.

American Atheists organization says the billboards are not meant to attack anybody or any beliefs, they are targeting people from the Muslim and Jewish communities who might be under pressure for their beliefs or lack of them.

American Atheists is planning to post similar billboards in other communities too.

More information: http://www.atheists.org/atheism/Billboards2011