AVTEQ Blog

Consider the possibilities!

by AVTEQ on 19/07/10 at 11:00 am

California Legislature is considering a bill to allow the state to begin researching a new way and unique to increase state revenue, and decrease the $19 billion deficit. We’re not talking a government-run lemonade stand or bake sale. We’re talking advertising. On license plates.

(Read about it in the Contra Costa Times.)

The California legislature is looking at the possibility of allowing businesses to buy advertising space on new digital license plates.

This usage of digital signage would resemble a standard license plate when the vehicle is in motion and display digital ads or other messages (such as Amber Alerts) when it is stopped for more than four seconds. The license plate number would always remain visible in some part of the screen.

This may be a desperate attempt on the part of the California government to reduce the state’s massive debt, and some say an added distraction for drivers, but at AVTEQ, we’re less concerned about the political implications of such tactics, or even if the bill would pass, and more interested in what the possibility of this kind of technology means for the digital industry.

Get used to it, digital media isn’t going anywhere. As society progresses, we will become more and more surrounded by the use of digital technology. The news that California is considering such a use of digital signage is evidence of the way the industry is moving.

Like video, which has grown to be a normal part of society, we suspect digital signage is headed in the same direction. The implication for us is in whether or not we embrace these new technologies and use it as an opportunity to see the possibilities.

If digital advertising on your car’s license plate is truly possible, that really begs the question, what isn’t possible in this exciting new industry?

Interested in hearing more? Check out this video.