For most types of digital signage, the answer is…probably. But before we dig into why, let’s first talk about what blockchain is and how it works.

By now you’re probably familiar with bitcoin, ripple and other decentralized cryptocurrencies. Blockchain is the platform bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies use to make trades. In other words, Blockchain is an automated digital book-keeper that contains every transaction ever executed of all.

While still in its infancy, Blockchain is quickly becoming a technology far more powerful than just a financial device with uses ranging from tracking ownership of documents to exchanging digital and physical assets.  

So how does this disruptive technology factor in the digital signage space? Here are 3 real-world examples.

Trading

Since Blockchain allows access to all parties involved in a transaction, digital trading of ad space becomes more transparent and less ambiguous.

Let’s say you’re attending a trade show and want to purchase ad space on a digital sign to promote your company. You would use blockchain to purchase the ad space – in return, you’d receive a token i.e a digital receipt confirming you are in fact the person who made the transaction. From there, you would send your token to the vendor you purchased the ad space from, which would be verified through the blockchain database.

Not only will blockchain streamline the trading process for digital ad space, it also will automate the verification process for transactions

Advertising

Another major use of blockchain allows advertisers to tag a particular advertisement, enabling them to track consumer behavior. One notable player, adChain, uses blockchain to segment advertising data on digital signs. If your company is being promoted at a trade show,adChain lets you see your ad on the digital sign, the frequency of your ad, how much of your budget was consumed and your conversions. And with ad fraud being a multi-billion dollar problem, Blockchain solutions make ad purchases fraud-free and records the absolute number of impressions while almost eliminating data discrepancies.

Decentralized content production

Content production for digital signage platforms can be a headache for both vendors and end users. It is quite a task to produce localized content that also meets the software and hardware needs of the campaign while keeping it creative and relevant. Blockchain can help produce trading platforms for content productions. Here’s how it would work.

Let’s say you want to use a creative piece for your digital ad. You’d visit a trading platform containing artwork you’re interested in. Once you make a purchase, the platform will notify the artist when their work is used and ensure they get compensated for it. What’s more interesting here is that with a decentralized network, the end users don’t have to work with one vendor or artist for their design needs – they can engage multiple creative resources and get the job done according to their requirements.

From taking an international campaign and localizing it for your audience to building it on a compatible platform, producing content for digital signage can be a lengthy process for both artists and end users alike. Blockchain would help streamline this process through a decentralized database where users can search for the content they need. Artists would follow a similar cadence, but instead would create a database of archived content, so when their content is used they would be notified and properly compensated for it.

One leading example Adshares Network where every advertiser creates their own account on the blockchain and associates it with their domain. An advertiser can use the Adshares API to display whatever inventory they wish to display. The same technology can be applied to create a marketplace for artists and companies where they can look for and display their creatives for digital signage respectively.

Blockchain can revolutionize how the digital signage industry operates by introducing new processes and eliminating fraud. We’re going to stay on top of the topic and update you on the latest developments.