According to Bradley Cooper, Technology Editor for Digital Signage Today, blockchain is a fancy word for a decentralised ledger. In other words, it is a database that is not centralised within one central location or organisation but by multiple computers or organisations. It is a database that is governed by not one, but many actors.
Many people recognise the potential of blockchain but very few people understand what it is. Blockchain has the potential to transform a variety of industries, and that includes digital signage advertising.
Typically, blockchain has been used for cryptocurrencies because it can accurately and securely record transactions, without much chance of someone tampering with it. After all, if every computer on the blockchain network has access to the same record, any changes would be instantly noticeable.
The first blockchain was created by Satoshi Nakamoto, the anonymous creator of bitcoin, to securely record and process bitcoin transactions. Because of this, many discussions on blockchain will focus on the cryptocurrency bitcoin. However, the blockchain has grown beyond bitcoin to many different areas such as:
• Smart contracts.
• Cross-border payments.
• Identity management.
• Serving the financially underserved.
So, what does this all have to do with digital signage? A decentralised ledger like blockchain can impact digital signage in many ways. First of all, it can help confirm impressions for digital signage advertisements. This kind of technology is already at work with the company VODXS.
This company created a point-of-bathroom sink display that plays advertisements when customers go up to wash their hands. It also uses blockchain technology to confirm whether an individual customer actually viewed the advertisement.
‘Every VODXS faucet is connected directly to the blockchain, and as soon as this presence is noted, the faucet puts this information into a transaction on the network. Nodes pick up these user presence indicators and validate whether the indication is likely to be confirmed,’ said Alex Mardikian, CIO and board member, VODXS.
A blockchain can also help incentivise content creators for DOOH campaigns. For example, users can create DOOH content and register these creations on a blockchain so no matter where the content is used, they will receive both credit and payment through cryptocurrency.
On the customer level, DOOH advertisers can also incentivise customers to engage with campaigns through tokenisation. For example, a campaign could encourage customers to take a picture of an advertisement and share it on their social media profiles in exchange for cryptocurrency, which can be delivered to an app. Blockchain technology is growing and expanding every day, so in the future, end users and vendors alike may use it in ways we can’t even imagine.
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This article was sourced from www.digitalsignagetoday.com
