Automating DOOH: Broadsign, Mirakl Ads & Retail Media

With 60,000+ DOOH screens under contract and 26,092+ screens actively onboarded, the landscape of in-store advertising is undergoing a massive programmatic transformation.

For years, retailers struggled with a major friction point: fragmented, siloed reporting and execution between physical storefronts and digital e-commerce platforms.

Announced during the 73rd Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in June 2026, the Broadsign Mirakl Ads partnership aims to solve this exact problem.

This strategic alliance is reshaping how brands approach omnichannel campaign management.

By unifying online retail media with in-store physical displays, advertisers can finally execute cohesive campaigns across the entire shopper journey.

But as retail media networks scale, the underlying technology powering these screens must evolve from legacy Content Management Systems (CMS) to modern, API-first Supply-Side Platforms (SSPs).

In this comprehensive guide, we will explore the mechanics of this integration, the technical requirements for modern programmatic DOOH and e-commerce, and how Trillboards provides the next-generation infrastructure to monetize these networks.

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The Evolution of Retail Media Networks (RMNs)

Retail Media Networks have historically been confined to the digital realm.

Brands would purchase sponsored product placements on a retailer's website or app, utilizing first-party shopper data to target consumers at the point of digital purchase.

However, physical stores still account for the vast majority of total retail sales.

The Challenge of Physical Store Monetization

Transitioning digital ad models into the physical world presents significant technical hurdles.

Historically, in-store digital signage operated in a vacuum, completely disconnected from a retailer's e-commerce advertising stack.

Advertisers had to use separate vendor workflows, negotiate distinct contracts, and rely on disjointed reporting metrics.

Key Insight: True omnichannel success requires a single point of entry where a brand can buy an ad on a retailer's mobile app and simultaneously trigger a complementary video ad on an endcap display in a physical store.

Unlocking Incremental Revenue Streams

Retailers are sitting on highly valuable, under-monetized physical assets.

By integrating programmatic DOOH capabilities into their existing retail media strategies, stores can unlock massive incremental revenue streams.

This allows brands to transact on physical screens with the same ease, agility, and performance metrics traditionally expected of digital-only channels.

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Unpacking the Broadsign Mirakl Ads Partnership

The collaboration between Broadsign and Mirakl represents a watershed moment for the industry.

Entering beta testing in mid-2026 with an initial launch rolling out in Q3 2026, this integration bridges the gap between digital marketplaces and physical retail environments.

Division of Technical Responsibilities

According to industry coverage from Media in Canada, the technical responsibilities between the two platforms are clearly delineated.

Mirakl Ads serves as the foundational commerce and retail media network (RMN) layer.

It handles the online marketplace dynamics, e-commerce integrations, and the ingestion of proprietary first-party shopper data.

Conversely, Broadsign acts as the digital signage ad platform, responsible for the technical delivery of in-store content to physical displays.

Empowering the Retailer

As highlighted by Invidis, one of the most critical aspects of this partnership is data sovereignty.

Retailers maintain absolute, uncompromising control over their proprietary shopper data.

They also retain full authority over pricing floors, physical inventory allocation, and brand safety parameters.

This ensures that retailers can safely monetize their audiences without leaking valuable first-party data to third-party exchanges.

A Unified Buying Experience

For media buyers, the primary benefit of this retail media networks integration is workflow consolidation.

As reported by Sign Media Canada, advertisers can now execute campaigns using a single brief and a single point of contact.

Furthermore, B&T notes that advertisers benefit from consolidated reporting that measures performance holistically.

Brands can now track the shopper journey from an initial online impression all the way to an in-store physical conversion.

For more details on the initial announcement, you can review the official press release from Mirakl.

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The Technical Divide: Legacy CMS vs. Modern Monetization Infrastructure

While the Broadsign and Mirakl partnership highlights the demand for omnichannel solutions, the underlying technology powering DOOH networks is heavily fragmented.

Many retail networks still rely on legacy CMS platforms like ScreenCloud or OptiSigns.

The Limitations of CMS-Only Platforms

Traditional CMS platforms are excellent at scheduling static JPEGs or looping internal promotional videos.

However, they fundamentally lack ad monetization infrastructure.

They cannot facilitate real-time bidding, they do not support OpenRTB protocols, and they cannot plug into global Demand-Side Platforms (DSPs).

To generate revenue, a CMS is not enough; publishers need a Supply-Side Platform (SSP).

The High Cost of Closed Ecosystems

Legacy SSPs and ad servers in the DOOH space often operate as closed, expensive ecosystems.

Competitors routinely charge publishers software licensing fees ranging from $5 to $45 per screen, per month.

For a retail network managing 5,000 screens, this equates to hundreds of thousands of dollars in pure overhead before a single ad is sold.

Furthermore, building a proprietary SSP from scratch requires upward of $500,000 in upfront development costs and years of engineering time.

Trillboards: The Next-Generation SSP

Trillboards fundamentally disrupts this legacy pricing model.

Unlike expensive, closed ecosystems, Trillboards is an open, API-first SSP and free ad server for digital signage publishers.

Publishers pay exactly $0/screen/month to use the platform.

Trillboards monetizes exclusively through ad demand, aligning the platform's success directly with the publisher's revenue growth.

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Automating the Omnichannel Workflow with Trillboards

To successfully execute programmatic DOOH and e-commerce campaigns, retail media networks require deeply integrated automation.

Trillboards provides this automation through its robust Partner SDK (@trillboards/ads-sdk) and OpenAPI specification.

Programmatic Infrastructure-as-a-Service

The Trillboards SDK acts as programmatic infrastructure-as-a-service.

It allows digital signage software companies, CTV OEMs, and retail media networks to add ad monetization in minutes, rather than months.

The SDK supports TypeScript, React, React Native, Flutter, CTV environments, and server-side integrations.

Real-Time Audience Intelligence

In the era of omnichannel marketing, data is the ultimate currency.

Trillboards captures and processes real-time audience intelligence, including demographics, dwell time, attention metrics, and foot traffic.

Over the past 60 days alone, Trillboards has observed 588 IAB audience segments in live impressions.

This granular data allows DSPs to bid on highly specific retail audiences with surgical precision.

Integrating OpenOOH and IAB Taxonomies

Trillboards natively supports the IAB OpenOOH venue taxonomy.

The platform currently categorizes inventory across 38 distinct venue categories.

Furthermore, Trillboards supports 1,558 IAB Audience Taxonomy 1.1 nodes (segtax=4) in its OpenRTB requests.

This ensures that when a brand buys an audience programmatically, the data signals perfectly match industry-standard targeting parameters.

Webhook-Driven Event Architecture

Automation requires real-time system communication.

Trillboards features a powerful webhook-driven event architecture that pushes vital data directly to the publisher's backend.

Publishers can subscribe to webhooks for device status changes, live ad impressions, audience spikes, and automated payouts.

This eliminates the need for constant API polling and drastically reduces server load for enterprise networks.

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Deep Dive: OpenRTB 2.6 and Supply Chain Transparency

For enterprise media buyers to trust a DOOH network, the supply chain must be completely transparent and mathematically verifiable.

Trillboards leverages the OpenRTB 2.6 exchange protocol to facilitate real-time bidding with a second-price auction engine.

The Multi-Demand-Source VAST Waterfall

Maximizing fill rates requires connecting to multiple demand sources simultaneously.

Trillboards features a full SSP with a multi-demand-source VAST waterfall.

This seamlessly integrates demand from Google Ad Manager (GAM), HiveStack, Vidverto, and the broader OpenRTB exchange.

If the primary programmatic auction does not clear the floor price, the system automatically falls back to secondary networks to ensure the screen never goes dark.

Rigorous Supply-Chain Validation

Ad fraud and invalid traffic (IVT) are major concerns for programmatic buyers.

Trillboards combats this with a rigorous 14-check OpenRTB 2.6 supply-chain validation runbook executed on every single VAST request.

This includes real-time validation of sellers.json, ads.txt, and schain objects.

Pro Tip: Media buyers will actively blacklist networks that fail supply-chain validation. Maintaining a clean ads.txt file is non-negotiable for enterprise monetization.

Brand Safety and Content Classification

Retailers are highly protective of their brand environments.

They cannot risk displaying inappropriate or competitor advertisements on their in-store screens.

Trillboards has performed 157,743 creative-level classifications across 131 IAB Content Taxonomy top-level categories.

This ensures strict brand safety, allowing retailers to block specific IAB categories (e.g., alcohol, politics, or direct competitors) at the venue level.

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The Trillboards Revenue Model: A True Partnership

Legacy ad networks often obscure their take rates, leaving venue owners guessing about their true earnings.

Trillboards operates with absolute financial transparency.

The 60/40 Revenue Split

The programmatic ad revenue on Trillboards is split 60/40 in the publisher's favor.

This means the venue or publisher keeps 60% of the generated revenue, and Trillboards keeps 40%.

There are no hidden fees, no monthly SaaS licenses, and no complex tiered deductions.

This straightforward 60/40 split ensures that the people providing the physical real estate and the hardware capture the majority of the value.

API Tiers for Scaling Operations

As networks grow, their technical requirements scale accordingly.

Trillboards offers three distinct API tiers to accommodate publishers of all sizes:

1. Basic Tier: Allows up to 200 requests per minute, perfect for standard integrations.
2. Developer Tier: Unlocks 1,000 requests per minute and provides access to advanced venue intelligence endpoints.
3. Enterprise Tier: Handles 5,000 requests per minute, offering raw data exports and a dedicated Service Level Agreement (SLA).

Publishers can explore the full REST API for device, audience, venue, and webhook management via the OpenAPI spec with Swagger UI at /developer/docs.

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Edge Monetization: Smart Vending and Interactive Retail

The concept of retail media is expanding rapidly beyond traditional big-box stores.

Edge computing and smart hardware are creating entirely new categories of micro-retail environments.

Monetizing Smart Vending Machines

Modern vending machines are no longer just metal boxes dispensing snacks; they are connected digital endpoints.

This creates a massive opportunity for programmatic DOOH, as VapeTM demonstrates with their smart vending machines with digital displays and advertising screens.

By integrating the Trillboards SDK, these machines transform from simple point-of-sale devices into high-yield advertising assets.

Because these screens are positioned directly at the point of purchase, they command premium eCPMs from FMCG (Fast-Moving Consumer Goods) advertisers.

Interactive and Robotic Retail Kiosks

Similarly, interactive kiosks are merging entertainment with retail media.

This trend is accelerating quickly, as Sweet Robo demonstrates with their robotic vending machines (cotton candy, ice cream, popcorn) featuring large interactive screens.

These robotic kiosks inherently generate high dwell times and capture exceptional consumer attention.

When a network operator plugs these high-attention screens into an SSP like Trillboards, they can seamlessly capture programmatic demand from global DSPs.

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Step-by-Step: Implementing an Omnichannel Strategy

For network operators and ad ops teams looking to capitalize on omnichannel campaign management, a structured implementation strategy is required.

Here is how enterprise networks are utilizing modern SSPs to bridge the gap.

Step 1: Standardize Venue Taxonomy

Before you can sell inventory programmatically, DSPs need to know exactly where your screens are located.

You must map all of your physical locations to the IAB OpenOOH venue taxonomy.

Whether your screens are in a grocery store, a pharmacy, or a shopping mall, accurate categorization is the foundation of programmatic discoverability.

Step 2: Integrate the SDK and OM SDK

Next, integrate the @trillboards/ads-sdk into your digital signage player software.

Crucially, ensure you implement the OM SDK (Open Measurement).

The OM SDK provides MRC-compliant ad verification, proving to media buyers that the ad was actually rendered and visible on the screen.

Without OM SDK verification, many enterprise buyers will simply refuse to bid on your inventory.

Step 3: Configure the VAST Waterfall

Set up your multi-demand-source VAST waterfall within the Trillboards dashboard.

Connect your Google Ad Manager (GAM) account using IVT-compliant VAST tags.

Establish your floor prices, ensuring that direct-sold campaigns take priority over programmatic backfill.

Step 4: Publish Supply Chain Documents

Transparency is mandatory.

You must generate and host an ads.txt file on your corporate domain.

Ensure your publisher ID is properly listed in the Trillboards sellers.json file.

This mathematically proves your ownership of the inventory and allows DSPs to bid with confidence.

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The Future of the Digital Signage Ad Platform

The integration of e-commerce data with physical DOOH screens is not just a passing trend; it is the new standard for retail marketing.

As the Broadsign and Mirakl Ads partnership clearly illustrates, the industry is moving aggressively toward unified, omnichannel execution.

For DOOH network operators, property management companies, and digital signage software providers, the mandate is clear.

You must upgrade your infrastructure from legacy CMS software to modern, API-first SSPs.

By leveraging Trillboards, publishers gain access to enterprise-grade programmatic infrastructure at absolutely zero monthly cost.

With a transparent 60/40 revenue split in the publisher's favor, Trillboards ensures that venue owners maximize the yield of every single screen.

The tools to automate your retail media network are here. It is time to turn your screens into a programmatic revenue engine.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What is the Broadsign Mirakl Ads partnership?

Announced at Cannes Lions in June 2026, it is a strategic integration that unifies online retail media (powered by Mirakl) with in-store digital signage (powered by Broadsign), allowing advertisers to manage omnichannel campaigns from a single interface.

How does Trillboards differ from a standard CMS?

A CMS (like ScreenCloud) is used to schedule and display content but lacks ad monetization capabilities. Trillboards is a Supply-Side Platform (SSP) and ad server that connects screens directly to programmatic ad buyers via OpenRTB to generate revenue.

How much does Trillboards charge publishers?

Trillboards is completely free to use as an ad server, charging $0 per screen per month. The platform monetizes exclusively through ad demand, not publisher SaaS fees.

What is the revenue split on Trillboards?

Programmatic ad revenue is split 60/40 in the publisher's favor. The venue or publisher keeps 60% of the revenue, and Trillboards keeps 40%.

Does Trillboards support Google Ad Manager (GAM)?

Yes, Trillboards features deep GAM integration, allowing publishers to traffic IVT-compliant VAST tags and manage direct-sold campaigns alongside the programmatic OpenRTB exchange.

What is OM SDK and why is it important?

The Open Measurement SDK (OM SDK) is an industry standard for ad verification. It provides MRC-compliant proof to advertisers that an ad was actually rendered and viewable on the screen, which is critical for securing premium programmatic bids.

How do I integrate Trillboards into my custom software?

Developers can integrate Trillboards using the Partner SDK (@trillboards/ads-sdk), which supports TypeScript, React, React Native, Flutter, and server-side environments, alongside a fully documented OpenAPI specification.