More on right hand reads.

Insider wrote yesterday that right hand reads ought to be priced at a premium because they get 31% more impressions.  Here’s a selection of responses we received from readers.

Andrea Messimer-Henley, Director of New Business Development and Marketing, Circle Graphics:

Price them 35% higher. ?‍♀️ makes sense to me.

Brad Gettner, Mega-Graphics:

Great metric to know. So much of visibility is based on site line geometry. When decorated with reflective films this is even more important. Nonilluminated structures of the 60’s – ’70’s were often situated at an angle towards the roadway vs perpendicular (think half of a vee for a single faced sign). Most roadside DOT signs are similarly situated to maximize the geometry of each site. While this is necessary for proper reflectivity, it also improves the legibility of the message by removing distortion.

An Out of Home Manager:

RHR’s are higher priced but they are not 35% higher priced…Makes for a great argument to push those rates up, especially for the agency/client who demands only RHR’s.

Leonard Busby, Owner, Busby Companies

Leonard Busby, Busby Outdoor

Having a Digital in a curve on I-20 and another on Hwy 49. As I am traveling West, toward the curve, the cross read Digital is staying in the “Center” of the Interstate. Not until I get right up on the board, then it shifts and you realize it’s a Left Hand Read. I can’t imagine or understand in this situation why, the right is 35% more. By far, when going West and seeing this 14’ x 48’ dead in the center of the West Bound lanes, where it remains in the front windshield for over 32 seconds. Left Hand read just because “Awesome” in the center of interstate. Why can’t this get the impressions it deserves?  Thanks Dave for your information, but if this factor has not been indentified or not know about, who can really say about the impressions! I believe in this situation or know, I would stand behind the Billboard in the “Curve” for impressions.

Geopath President Kym Frank to responds to Busby’s comments:

Your reader is correct.  In the old model, there were left hand reads, right hand reads, center reads, and then there are parallel or perpendicular.  A board on the left side of the road that is on a curve may actually be coded as a center read – and have higher impressions than a right hand read.  That said – the new VAI model has changed and is significantly more sensitive than the old one.  Rather than having left, right and center, we are ingesting the exact angle to approaching traffic which means there aren’t just 3 variations – but infinite variations.  In fact – there is a LOT that is changing that will impact the ratings.

Insider will write more in the future about how Geopath’s ratings are changing.

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3 Comments

  1. If you are truly selling the medium on impressions, right hand read vs left hand read rates will work themselves out. Left hand reads, by formula, get less impressions than right hand reads. The math will take care of itself. The one exception is for the client or agency that asks for “all right hand reads”… Indeed a request like that should be charged a premium, just like purchasing a specific location would.

  2. Glad to hear there is a new VAI model. Our bulletin 2027 – Geopath ID 282318 is situated on I-294 WL s/o Lake FS – LHR; however it also reads to I-290 Northbound traffic where it is a RHR. Just checked impressions and weekly impressions are 1,595,962 – up from 1,552,055 when we sent renewals in December. Thanks Geopath! Look forward to seeing more on how our ratings are changing and will be more accurate

  3. I think the art outweighs the science here… It’s all about how it pops!