The Move system (it stands for Measurement of Outdoor Visibility and Exposure) produces a ‘likelihood to see’ metric rather than the more traditional ‘opportunity to see’ – meaning the results will only include those people who will probably see an outdoor advertising site.

Similar ‘eyes on’ estimates are used in outdoor audience measurement systems in the US and the UK. Simon Cooper, one of the architects of the UK’s Postar system for out-of-home research, is credited as a key participant in the development of Move.

The system is built around the Zenith Travel Modelling System, developed by Veitch Lister Consulting, which is used to ascertain how and where people travel and how many outdoor advertising locations they pass. Eye-tracking studies are then carried out to determine who is likely to see an advertisement, with a Visibility Index score given to each outdoor advertising site according to factors such as the size of the ad, how well-lit it is and the speed of passing audiences.

Audience data will be available for all major ad formats and environments including roadside billboards, posters, street furniture, railway stations, shopping centres and airports. The Move system has been in development for more than three years and was funded to the tune of $10m by outdoor media companies APN, Eye, Adshel, JCDecaux and oOh!media, and the Outdoor Media Association (OMA).

Move chairman Steve O’Connor said: “The outdoor media industry has taken a giant leap forward today by delivering upon its promise to provide a fully transparent and accountable audience measurement tool that will be directly available to media agencies, advertisers and OMA members.”