For decades, outdoor advertising has operated on assumptions. Brands paid for highway billboards or mall displays with little to no data on who saw them, how many people looked up, or whether the campaign worked at all. Sunil Kumar, a 15-year tech veteran who worked at Intel, saw this gap and founded PickAdSpace, a Kerala-based ad-tech startup that brings the precision of digital advertising to the physical world.
PickAdSpace converts ordinary display screens into AI-monitored, connected ad spaces. Through a single dashboard, brands can upload creatives, select screen locations, set budgets, schedule campaigns, and watch live reports populate in real time. The pay-per-second billing model replaces fixed weekly rates: advertisers pay only for the time their ad is shown, with no charge if a screen goes down. If a campaign underperforms in one location, advertisers can reallocate their budget instantly.
What sets PickAdSpace apart is its edge AI technology, which analyzes foot traffic and tracks engagement directly at the screen without sending data to the cloud. Advertisers can see how many people were present when their ad played, how behavior varied by location and time, and how their campaign compared to benchmarks. This level of insight, common in digital advertising on platforms like Meta or Google, is now available at locations such as Trivandrum Bus Terminal or a mall in Calicut.
The platform also enables lead generation through WhatsApp-enabled QR codes embedded in campaigns. Passersby can scan a screen to connect directly with a business, triggering a conversation, booking, or product inquiry. The system automatically verifies these interactions, turning a once-passive medium into a sales touchpoint.
PickAdSpace has built a network model where businesses that host display screens become ‘Ad Hosts’ and earn a share of revenue. The company won a tender from the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation to install digital signs across the state, placing screens in front of large daily commuter crowds. Currently operating 250+ smart advertising screens across Kerala, PickAdSpace plans to add 200 more in the next two months and reach 1,000 screens by year’s end.
The platform has no minimum spend thresholds or complex onboarding barriers, making it accessible to local restaurants, regional startups, multinationals, and agencies. Pay-per-second billing scales to any budget, offering campaign transparency and live reporting that outdoor media has never provided before. PickAdSpace is not replacing digital advertising—it is bringing digital advertising’s discipline to a medium that has run on gut feel for too long.
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