OOH continued its record-breaking momentum in Q1 2026, generating an all-time first quarter high of $2.12 billion in revenue. Extending OOH’s growth streak to 20 consecutive quarters, revenue increased 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year.
The strong quarterly performance builds on OOH’s record-setting $9.46 billion in revenue in 2025 and underscores the medium’s growing role in today’s media mix. Digital out of home (DOOH) remained a key growth driver, increasing 12.9% year-over-year and accounting for 36% of total OOH revenue. Printed OOH also delivered solid growth, increasing 4.1%.
Among major OOH formats, Transit led the quarter with an 18% increase over Q1 2025, followed by Street Furniture (+11.5%), Billboards (+4.8%), and Place-Based media (+3.3%).
All digital OOH categories posted gains, with double-digit growth across nearly every format. Digital Transit increased 25%, digital Street Furniture rose 21.5%, and digital Place-Based grew 17%, while digital Billboards delivered strong growth of 8.1%.
Technology and AI Brands Accelerate Investment
Technology advertisers emerged as one of the quarter’s strongest growth stories. Spending from Computers, Software, and Internet Services advertisers surged 139% year-over-year.
Among the top 100 OOH advertisers, 72% increased spending compared to Q1 2025. Twenty advertisers more than doubled their investment, including Genspark, OpenAI, Boehringer Ingelheim, Vibe.co, Lambda, Charter Communications, eBay, Citi, Odoo, Pepsi, Dan Newlin Injury Attorneys, Peacock, Capital One, Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Brex, Kaiser Permanente, Geico, United Airlines, City of Orlando, and ABC.
Three AI brands, Genspark, OpenAI, and Lambda, were among the quarter’s newest and fastest-growing OOH advertisers, underscoring the medium’s growing role in helping emerging technology companies build awareness at scale.
Thirty-one percent of the top 100 OOH advertisers were technology or direct-to-consumer brands. Twelve technology and DTC advertisers ranked among the top 30 OOH spenders, including Apple, Verizon, T-Mobile, Uber, HBO, Genspark, DoorDash, OpenAI, Amazon, Peacock, Paramount, and Netflix.
Top Spending Advertisers and Categories in Q1 2026
Ranked by total spend, the top 10 advertisers in OOH for Q1 were:
- Morgan & Morgan
- Apple
- McDonald’s
- Verizon
- Dunkin’
- T-Mobile
- Coca-Cola
- Richemont
- Disney
- Universal Pictures
Nine of the top 10 product industries increased spending year-over-year, led by:
- Computers, Software and Internet Services (+139%)
- Financial (+29%)
- Local Services & Amusements (+12%)
- Insurance & Real Estate (+5%)
- Automotive Dealers & Services (+3%)
Growth was broad-based across the industry, with gains spanning technology, financial services, legal services, retail, restaurants, automotive, and insurance. The diversity of spending reflects OOH’s ability to support both brand-building and performance objectives across virtually every major advertiser category.
Legal Services remained the largest product category by total OOH spend and grew 18% year-over-year. Three additional top 10 product categories posted double-digit growth:
- Computer Software (+158%)
- Consumer Banking (+17%)
- Architects, Contractors, Engineers (+15%)
Eight brands were new to Q1 OOH spending compared to the same period last year, including Genspark, OpenAI, Lambda, Boehringer Ingelheim, Charter Communications, Citi, eBay, and Vibe.co.
Fourteen advertisers increased OOH spending by more than $2 million during the quarter, led by Morgan & Morgan, followed by Genspark, OpenAI, Boehringer Ingelheim, Capital One, Peacock, Vibe.co, Lambda, Coca-Cola, Richemont, Charter Communications, Uber, Pepsi, and eBay.
Recent research from OAAA and Kochava found that OOH delivers twice the performance lift of television, reinforcing the growth of OOH in the marketplace as brands increasingly turn to OOH to drive both awareness and action.
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